Merlin
by keeperoliver
Summary: Someone decided help was needed in the country of England. Merlin was the one sent to help. This is Pre-Hogwarts/WMPP era. It is OOC and Harry is not the boy who lived. It all still belongs to Mrs. Rowling. Pairings are JP/LE and SS/NB
1. Chapter 1

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter 1

He was using his sensors to view what was going on inside the little hut where his owner and a small but powerful creature were talking. His owner sat by the small creature who appeared to be dieing. He was lying on his bed and spoke softly to his owner.

"I have taught you all I can young Skywalker. It is now time for me to leave you."

"So, I have become a Jedi Knight. But, Master, there is much more I need to know. You can't leave me like me this. You are still so strong and full of energy. You can't die yet."

"Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong. Do not think you are a knight. Strong you may be, but weak is your training. Not yet are you ready to face Vader, if this is what you think you must do. He will try to bring you to the dark side and follow the path of the Emperor."

"I can't face my own father Yoda. I can save him and bring him back. I know it."

"Then you have already lost. Our only hope now is for the other to recognize her power."

"The other? Who is this other? And why is it you never told me of her?"

"Because if you knew too early, then Vader would have learned of your sister's identity."

"My sister. OH NO, LEIA. Leia is my sister."

"Yes, and with the right training, strong will she be with the force, whether it be on the side of the light or with the dark. That young Skywalker, is up to you. Now it is time for me to leave you. Remember that in order to win, you must face Vader and save your sister. Good bye young Jedi, and may the force be with you and your sister."

With that, the small Jedi Master began his trip back to his home planet of Valkyron (Valkeeron). It is there where he will receive his new assignment from the Director. His planet was hidden from the many travelers of space by the Glamor surrounding it, put there by its inhabitants. All were strong with the power of thought manipulation. He often wondered why it was called so many different things through out the universe. The place he just left called it the Force. Another he visited called it the Glimmer. And yet another called it The Power of the Gods. He wondered what it would be called on his next assignment.

He arrived on his home planet moments later and returned to his home where he would rest for a time before he approached the Director. He would need his strength before he began another long journey to who knows where. He also wanted to know what form he would take once he arrived to his new assignment. In every assignment he has had to take, it was always the same beginning. The one he was to teach had lost his or her parents to the dark side of the fight. This would most likely be the same. If only he could find one where he could save the parents and guide them as well as the one chosen to fight the dark side.

Well, that would be for later, as now he needed to rest and visit friends he had not seen in many cycles.

Merlin}

He rested and visited his friends for a quarter of a cycle. He filled out his report of what transpired during his last mission, and was hoping in that time the conflict was finished and his student had prevailed over the dark forces. He would know soon enough as it was time to receive his next assignment.

He approached the structure of the Director and entered the massive doors that took him to the assignment room. The Director was seated behind a large table that was cluttered with visi-disks. He looked up from his mess and greeted Yoda. "Bizz Alma, welcome home. You look refreshed. Are you ready for work already?"

"You said you needed me right away Director. Is this incorrect?"

"No, you are correct, but with you showing up early, I may have another direction you may wish to take. It is up to you."

"Before we begin with this new assignment, may I know the outcome of my last one?"

The Director searched his desk for the correct Visi-Disc and found it. He handed it to Bizz, who then placed it in a slot to see what happened to Luke. He saw two different battles taking place. On on a small planet where Han Solo and Leia Organa fought, he saw Solo use his imagination to get into a locked structure and defeat the ground forces which allowed the fight in space take a different turn when the shield protecting the Death Star was dropped and the light ships began its attack on it. Inside the star, he saw his young Jedi being beaten by the Emperor when Vader could not take the torture endured by his son anymore and picked up the Emperor and threw him into the plasma drive of the Death Star. The rest was his escape from the destroyed Star and his return to the small moon of Endor to meet with his sister and his friends. Bizz saw what the Director had done by allowing Luke to see Yoda, Anakin, and Kenobi. He thanked the Director for his final move.

Now it was time to find out where he was going next.

"Bizz, we have been following actions on another small planet called Earth. Right now it is centered on a small country called England, but it could spread to cover the entire planet. It is a large source of evil that is being held in check by a small force of protectors. However, the protectors are losing because of an old fool who is afraid to kill. It is also thought that the only way to end the evil is by the death of a young child who does not even know he is meant to fight. If you had been any later, his parents would have died and he would have had something done to him that would have assured his death. Now you can change all this. It is my wish that you go there and take up the body of an old legend in their time called Merlin. Their name for the power is called Magic. They use sticks they call wands to direct the magic at their opponents. They are primitive, but they are some of the strongest in thought manipulation I have ever seen. From birth they can do it. It is so strong that it has to be controlled by a governing system called a Ministry. Your mission is to provide this young human and if you think they should live, his parents, the training needed to defeat the dark forces before they can take over."

"You always make it sound so easy Director. You should go on a mission and see how easy it is."

"Don't you think I have. I know what it takes to be a hero maker. It is tough to see your student fail and die because he or she could not complete the training. Or to see one you trained turn bad because of the attention placed on him. Or worse yet to see one do exactly what he was supposed to do and become the hero you were training him for. These are always the hardest to leave because they came so far. Yes, I have been in your position. I have seen the disappointments and the victories. I have seen it all, and now it is your turn. Soon it is you who will be sitting here sending someone off to a far away land to train a hero and you will be answering the very same questions you are asking me right now. Enjoy what you have for now Bizz as the time will soon come where you have to be the Director."

"What happens when you leave being the Director?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Bizz thought a moment, "Do I?"

"It may disappoint you to know too early. Have fun while you can. Enjoy what you are doing for now and worry about your future when it arrives. Oh, and just to let you know, You will be an old man once again. It seems all cultures look to the old for wisdom."

"I thought you said it was an old man that was the cause of the protectors to lose numbers?"

"They are following the wrong old man. They will follow you once you prove to them who you are. This Merlin was a strong leader, but failed because of treachery. You must not fall into this same trap."

"How far before the child is born will I arrive?"

"If you leave now, then it will be before his parents are even together. Make friends with them and you will be able to show them the treachery before it takes place. Or you can wait a tenth of a cycle and be there after they die. This way you can take the child without any obstructions and train him. Your choice."

"Then I will be leaving you now as I finally have a chance to meet the parents and possibly be able to save them. I dislike having to see the heartbreak that is a child without parents."

"Then I wish you luck Bizz, and like you said to Luke, may the Force be with you, or in this case, may the magic be with you."

"I'm happy I don't have to talk like I did as Yoda. You don't know how hard that was. It gave me a headache trying to talk backwards all the time. Very confusing as well."

"Believe that I can. To never have to do that, Lucky I was." and they both had a good laugh before Bizz had to leave for the planet Earth. He took the background notes of the assignment and left the structure of the Director and went to the launch control pad. It was necessary to use the control pad for extremely long distances. It saved on their manipulation powers.

He gave the coordinates to the controller and he fed them into the projector. Bizz stepped on the pad and soon he was on his way to the planet Earth, home to his next assignment.

Merlin-}

Bizz landed in a cave that was on the side of a small mountain overlooking a village. The village was a short distance from a very large building with a large tower on each corner and a tower in the center of each side except the front.

At the front of the great building a short distance away was a small body of water. Off to the right was a vast stand of trees that was thick and very dark. The light from the sun found it difficult to make it to the floor of the trees.

To the left of the building was an arena of some sort. It's use escaped his knowledge.

Bizz made his way down the side of the mountain after he changed his form to the old man the director told him about. It was supposed to be this Myrrdyn Emrys, but he could not call himself that. Instead he would call himself Ben, after his friend from his last adventure.

He entered the village and looked for a place where many people gathered. He found a place called The Boarshead Tavern that was filled with many people that looked to be of the type found in a tavern in Mos Eiesley. Ruffians and drunks. He entered it and found a seat off to the side and quiet. He called for the innkeeper and asked what was good to eat. The Innkeeper left and returned with a bowl filled with something that had a thick gravy and chunks of brown and white in it. He was also handed some bread and a glass of water. He didn't think too much of it, but ate it all. He then drank the water, and looked around to see what everyone else was drinking. He listened to hear what the others ordered and decided upon something they called butter beer. He was glad he did. It tasted good and had no affect on him. He saw what that drink they called fire whiskey had on the others.

By sitting and listening to the talk around him he learned a great deal. The large building was a place called Hogwarts and it was a school for witches and wizards. It was the place he was looking for. He also learned that it would be starting up in one week and the train bringing the students would arrive by 6PM on the first of September, one week away. The train would leave London at 11AM from a platform 9 3/4. He would have to be there by that time if he wished to board the train.

However, before he did that, he would have to make his presence known to the school by enrolling his name as a sixth year student. He started his walk as Ben, but half way to the castle he left the road and entered a stand of bushes and changed to his sixteen year old form. In this form he would be known as Merl Alma. If anyone asked, he would say that his dad wished to call him Merlin, but his mum said no and agreed to Merl, a shortened version.

He went back to the road and continued his trip to the school to speak to the person in charge. He got to a set of gates that blocked him from entering the grounds of the school and looked to see if there was anything to use to alert the staff he was there seeking entry. It became unnecessary when a large man walked up to the gates, "How kin I help ya?"

"Yes sir, I am here to enroll in the school."

"Your name should already be on the list held by Professor McGonagall. If you haven't received your letter by now then maybe you should see her. Hold on a minute while I check with her."

Five minutes later, an elderly lady walked up to the gates, "Can I help you?"

"Yes Madam, you can. I am here to enroll in your school so that I may attend classes in the upcoming year. It would be my sixth year."

"Why haven't you enrolled before this. You are starting awfully late in your schooling?"

"I was schooled at home until my mum died last year. It came as quite a shock to me."

"I imagine it would. I am sorry to hear about your loss. Now where was this schooling done and to what extent was your training?"

Bizz wasn't expecting this. He didn't know any of the area names. He threw out the first thing that came to mind, "Alderron, and I was trained to my fifth year."

"I never heard of Alderron. Where is it?"

"In the States."

"OH, no wonder I never heard of it. You will have to be tested to see if you are up to standards with your other classmates before I can register you, A simple test is all that is needed. Please follow me." and she opened the gates for him to follow her up to the school.

Now, Bizz had seen many wonders during his travels, but he had never seen such use of thought manipulation. It was everywhere he looked. In the ceiling of the hall they entered, in the paintings where the figures moved around and talked and in the people themselves, as they moved things around.

He was led to a classroom where he was asked to take a seat. Professor McGonagall then brought him some sort of a test that was written on some sort of material that felt flimsy and weathered, like it would break if you bent it too much. But it was stronger than it looked and he sat down and read the test. He laughed at the test in his mind. It was too easy he thought. It took twenty minutes to take it and he returned it to the Professor.

"Do you have a question Mr. Alma?"

"No Madam, I am finished."

"Finished so soon. Please let me see it so that I can mark it."

Minerva read the answers and could not believe what she was seeing. Not only were they correct, but they were reworded so that they made more sense the way he put it. "I didn't think the States were that far advanced Mr. Alma. You made a perfect score and changed some answers that bettered the answer I was looking for. Excellent work. I will add your name to the registration and you will join your classmates on the first. We will have to sort you to a house and it will be done first so that you will not have to wait for the first years to be sorted. Good luck to you while you are here, and I look forward to seeing you soon. Good day Mr. Alma. Oh, here is your letter you will need to board the train."

"Thank you Professor and I will see you next week."

Bizz left the school and the grounds and went back to the village outside the school grounds. He asked where he might pick up the things he needed for school, and found out about Diagon Alley. It was in a town named London, and he was in luck when he was told of the floo network and how to use it.

The floo took him to a place called the Leaky Cauldron that was more presentable than the Boarshead. He asked the person behind the bar how to enter the Alley. Instead of being told, the bartender took him to the rear entry that led to a wall made of rocks. The tender tapped his wand on certain rocks which moved out of the way and made an opening large enough to walk through. Merl thanked the tender and stepped into the alley.

It was like a step back in time. He had studied this small planet and it's history during his trip here, using implanted thoughts. It looked like this world in the late eighteen hundreds to the early nineteen hundreds. Primitive but attractive.

Then his attention was diverted by a brawl taking place down the road. It seemed like four wizards were facing each other, calling each other derogatory remarks. He watched as up to now, all it was, was words. However, it could change at anytime with one wrong comment.

"Look Malfoy, I don't like the way you hang around my cousin and my brother. They are beginning to to believe this crap you are telling them about pure blood superiority. It's bull and you know it. There is no such thing. A baby with different parents is a child that is with magic is no different than a child being born by two magical parents and is with magic. Their blood is the same color. So what makes them different?"

"You call yourself a Black, but think like a Weasley. You're both pureblood families that think all wizards and witches are equal. There is no way a mudblood could hold a position that a pureblood holds. We are superior in our magical abilities and our intelligence. To think someone like Evans could be equal to us is absurd. Why do you even care about her, Potter? She is nothing."

"Look, I don't know why you brought her into the argument, but since you did, let me tell you something about her. She is tops in class in every subject. She is a stronger person than many males when it comes to magic. Ask you friend Snivellus. He'll tell you the same thing. So, if you want to talk ethics, then you better pick on someone you could actually beat."

There must be something about us purebloods that ther Blacks feel strong about, when all of them but you see the same way we do. As for you Potter, your family has always supported the lower class of people, like the Longbottoms and Weasleys. Now you are even sticking up for the lowest class, like they are worth something. By the way, how is your campaign going to win over the slut? Why else do you think Severus dropped her like he did. She isn't worth the time or the effort."

Sirius had to pull James off to the side to get him to calm down. He wished Remus was here to help as James was so pissed off, he was more than Sirius could handle. Then he got help from a stranger.

Bizz saw where if he didn't help the long black haired man with his friend, there was going to be a fight. He helped him pull the other man off to the side.

Sirius watched as the other two walked off when the new guy waved them away. He turned to the new guy, "Who are you, and why did you help me?"

Bizz smiled to him, "My name is Merl, and it looked like your friend was becoming more than you could handle. Sorry it it was unwanted, I'll stay away next time."

He was about to walk away when Sirius called him back, "I didn't say it was unwanted. My name is Sirius by the way and my friend's name is James. Sorry if I sounded rough, but I was just thinking about wishing my friend was here with me to help, when you walked in."

"Judging by the talk you all shared, I take it your last name is Black and your friends last name is Potter. Your opposition was Malfoy, but I never got his friends name."

"That would be Rockwood."

"What was this thing you were arguing about, Pureblood, Mudblood and mixed blood?"

"You don't know about blood status?"

"No, I don't. Is it important to know these things?"

"Where are you from, Merl? You don't sound like us, and not knowing about blood status tells me you not from here."

"I'm from the States."

"Where in the States and what is you last name, if it is no bother?"

"OK, I didn't know if you help someone out, you would get questioned like this. My last name is Alma and I'm from Alderron."

"Never heard of it. Of course I don't know all the villages in the States. I'm sorry to be asking all these questions, but these are trying times and one can't be too careful."

"No problem. Now, could you tell me where I could get a good Butterbeer around here?"

"Butterbeer? What you need is a good stiff drink. How about some Firewhiskey?"

"I think I'll pass on that thank you. I saw the effects it has on people, and I like to keep control of my faculties."

"OK, a Butterbeer it is. Come James, let's get us a drink with our new friend here."

James didn't want to speak before, because he was so upset. No one talked about Lily like Malfoy did, and get away with it. She never hurt anyone and didn't deserve to be insulted like he did to her.

"I'm sorry for not talking before. It's good to meet you Merl. I don't like to see people insulted when they are not here to defend themselves. Malfoy went too far this time, and I will pay him back my way, when we are back at school. Now, you said something about a drink, Pads?"

The three made their way back to the Cauldron and sat in a corner to talk where they would not be disturbed.

Bizz ordered his Butterbeer, as did James, but Sirius went with his Fire Whiskey. Bizz watched as Sirius downed the drink and didn't even flinch as h e drank it. Then he saw him smack his lips and order another. James told him that was enough as he didn't need to get drunk. Sirius laughed at his friend but agreed to make it his last. The three of them talked about the upcoming school year and asked Merl what house he wished to be in.

"To tell you the truth, I haven't given it much thought Which do you think I should be in?"

Together James and Sirius said "Gryffindor, definitely."

"Well, I can't go against the majority, so Gryffindor it is."

"Let's hope the hat thinks the same way."

"The Hat?"

"The Sorting Hat choses where a new student goes."

"How?"

"By reading your mind for specific traits you have. It has been this way since the Founders. It doesn't hurt or anything like that, and it usually takes about thirty seconds. Sometimes longer, like it did for Lily. I think they talked for like seventeen minutes, Wasn't Sirius?"

"Seemed like hours if you ask me. I didn't think she was ever going to get sorted. Wonder what they were talking about?"

"I don't think it was the weather. Probably something to do with how she felt about changes needing to take place in the school."

Bizz was beginning to form a picture of this Lily the two were talking about. She has to be good looking for James to like her, but she also has to be a strict one for the rules for Sirius to feel different about her.

Then they talked about the last two members of their group, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

After this talk, Bizz didn't understand why Peter was still a member of their group as he hadn't helped them out on any way, and in fact needed help to get through school. Remus sounded like a good enough fellow, but there was something the two were keeping from him about Remus.

This was when they had to part ways as James had to go home and prepare it for the nine months he was going to be away. He did it every year since his parents died. He was looking for a smaller place as the Manor was too large for him and Sirius. They asked Remus to join them, but he refused for some reason they didn't explain.

Bizz left them outside the Inn, and made it look like he headed in the other direction. He then went back in the Inn and went to his room. There were still things he needed to do, before school started. The first thing was to have a talk with this Old Man the Director told him about that refused to kill someone that just killed one of his friends.

He would be making this meeting as Merlin, to put his point across to the idiot.


	2. Chapter 2

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Two

AN: This is my warning that there will be Dumbledore bashing in this chapter. In my opinion, it is bad, because I never really get this hard with my bashing. However, it is for a reason. Ollie the Keeper.

Merlin-}

An old man approached the gates of Hogwarts with the idea of entering. However, he was surprised when a giant of a man stood before him on the inside of the gate asking him his business.

Hagrid was use to his intimidating presence when someone met him for the first time. This old man should be no different. However when the old man spoke, it was as if he were talking to a child.

"What do you think I want you idiot. I want in. Now open these gates before I blast them off their hinges."

"You might want to change your tone o' voice old man. Professor Dumbledore don't take kindly to threats."

"OLD MAN! Why you insignificant pile of horse droppings. Open these gates now, or I will show you threats the likes of which you will never see again."

"You're not going anywhere until the Professor tells me to let you pass."

For the first time that he could remember, Hagrid was thrown twenty meters through the air and landed on his butt. He watched as the gates flew open when the old man passed his hand over it, and then he saw him walk through, heading for the castle. Hagrid also saw Professor Dumbledore walking towards the old man. "You asked for it you old Geezer. Here comes the Professor now."

"Watch your tongue you oversized little boy. Your Professor will do nothing to me, just like he won't do anything to his adversaries. Besides, he doesn't know who he is approaching."

"You're right sir, I don't know who you are, but I can't allow you to enter my grounds without first knowing this. Now if you might, please tell me your name."

"Well, I might be this Lord Voldemort, or I might be your brother. But of course you know I am neither. My name is Myrrdyn Emryc."

"You know as well as I do, that it is impossible for you to be Emryc. He has been dead for over 10 centuries."

"I look pretty good for my age, don't you think. I am who I said I am. There is no way to prove this to you though, except for my power. Your boy toy will attest to it."

Hagrid watched as the Professor began to laugh at the words of the old geezer. He didn't know if he was laughing at him or because of him. One thing was certain, Dumbledore didn't scare the old one.

"If you are who you say you are, where have you been hiding all these centuries, and how did you stay alive?"

"I might ask you the same question, as you look every bit as old as I am. But in all fairness, I should answer you. If you must know, I have been frozen in ice for all this time. Placed there by the powers that controlled me when I trained Arthur. I was put there until I was once again needed. Before I was released, I was told what my new mission was and where to start. You are my starting point, and I must say you need much help. Why do you let your own people die and protect those that kill them? Are you an idiot, or are a fool?"

Albus was now getting angry at the old man and his hurtful words. "I think we need to take this inside and speak over a cup of tea. It will give me a chance to find the right words to answer you."

"You best look deep into your soul to find them, because anything other than the right ones could get you hurt. OH, I know you are angry at me, and that is good. Unless of course you don't intend to do anything about it, but talk. If that is the case, then let's have it out right here and now, because I couldn't take an hour of you crying over my words that hurt you so."

Hagrid was getting angry himself over this old bastard. He came here to insult the greatest wizard of the modern world. He tried to get to the old man, but his feet wouldn't respond to his thoughts. He looked down at them as if they failed him.

"Of course they failed you, you buffoon. They only listen to me. You can't protect your Headmaster, he can only protect himself. But I am not here to harm him, just set him straight."

"Then let us proceed to go inside and talk. It is not my wish to harm you either."

"Whether you can harm me has yet to be proven. I have not seen you lift your wand once during our little chat. I have insulted you and your minion. I have struck him and would have hurt him if he wasn't thick of skin, like his head. Is this how you protect all those who follow you?"

"Myrrdyn, if that really is your name, the only reason I have not struck back, is because I know you couldn't harm Hagrid. He is a half giant with their tough skin. You have not struck out at me. So, I can only assume you are putting on a show, trying to impress me." Albus only got angrier at the old man's response.

"You are like I thought. You call yourself the leader of the light, and all it is, is big fancy words that no one understands, or think they sound good. You say all I'm doing is putting on a show. Is that what you want, a show. I'll give you a show." and Bizz turned to the lake, waved his arm and all the water in the lake disappeared, leaving the Merpeople and the Giant Squid without their life giving fluid. Albus was in shock by what he was witnessing. He saw the creatures struggling to survive and turned back to Bizz.

"Return what you have taken or they will all die. Are you that cruel?"

"No crueler than you are. You do this to your own friends. I don't know any of these creatures."

Hagrid was beyond himself and turned to attack this old man that was killing his friends, but his feet continued to refuse his wish to move.

Then, without a word of warning, Bizz waved his hand once more, and the water was returned to the lake, but it was from twenty five meters above the ground. The force of the water hitting the creatures from that distance surely killed some of them.

Bizz saw the look of disgust on both Albus and Hagrid's faces. "Do you think I would honestly kill something to show you my strength. Stupid people, There was nothing harmed because of the water falling back into the lake. I used a dome shield to protect them before the water struck the bottom. Do you belive that I am who I said I am? If not, I have more I can show you."

Albus breathed a sigh of relief, "No, I believe you are who you say. Now, what is it you want of me?"

"I want you to become a leader that will do your best to protect your own, without worrying about your enemy. Your people die uselessly because you ask them not to kill. The enemy sees this and take chances that normally would mean their deaths. Can't you see what is happening, or are you wearing blinders?"

"I can't tell them to kill after I have asked them to avoid it in the past. They will think me as weak. No, if it is to happen, then a new leader must be put in place. I will agree with this, if the right person is named."

"If you give me two weeks, I will come up with a name for you. It doesn't have to be a male does it?"

"No, but if it is a female, then she better be of strong will. I will be looking for your choices in two weeks Myrrdyn Emrys." and Albus began his walk back to the castle, with Hagrid on his heels. He turned to see that the old man was already gone.

"Professor, who was that old man. I seem to find that name familiar for some reason."

"If it is who he says, then his name should be familiar to you Hagrid, It would mean that he is Merlin."

"Blimey, Professor. If it is him, then we may have to new leader."

"No Hagrid, it is not him. If he wanted the position, he would have taken it from me. He wants someone in it that the Order knows and trusts."

"Then what do you think his plans are Professor?"

"I wish I knew Hagrid. I may have a thought on it, but it is too early to say. We will just have to sit and wait."

Merlin-}

Bizz talked with people in the Inn to see who they would trust if they needed help. All of them first stated Albus Dumbledore. They were then asked who would they chose if he was unable to help. There were multiple answers to this one. Alastor Mooney, Amelia Bones and Minerva McGonagall were the ones most common. So, Bizz decided to wait and talk with Sirius and James about these three.

He would wonder about Daigon Alley to kill time before it was time to board the train for Hogwarts. He did this in the form of Merl the student. He met many interesting people there, but it was three days before the train ride that he met one that caught his attention. He felt something in his mind that disturbed him. He had to talk to him.

"Excuse me, but could you help me with something?"

"Go away and leave me alone. I don't wish to be bothered."

"It seems to me that you are already being bothered by something."

"So, you think you can read my mind do you, Well read this." (Fuck Off).

"I was only trying to help, you didn't have to be rude."

"If you read my mind, then you know how I feel."

"Fuck Off, what ever that means, doesn't tell me a whole lot."

"It should tell you to leave me alone."

"But I see where you are hurting because of a girl, while another one is in the wings wishing to be with you."

"What the hell are you talking about? There are no girls in my mind."

"Denying the fact isn't going to change the truth. OH MY! You are in love with Lily, the one James likes. So much in love that you don't see the other girl. Such a pity."

"Get out of my mind you cretin. How are you able to do that? I have strong blocks in place."

"Not strong enough my friend. Aren't you at least a bit curious about the second girl I mentioned?"

"Why should I be, she isn't on my mind. You are fishing with that one."

"No, I am not. You may not see her, but in all your thoughts about Lily, she is in the background looking hurt. You should look into this."

"How can I look into something I don't know anything about. This girl you see can't be real, or I would know of her."

"How, if all you can see is Lily Evans. If I described her, would you know her?"

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I feel you are heading in a direction that could hurt you, and others as well. Look, I saw a tall girl with dark hair and silver blue eyes. She is wearing an emblem on her robes that appears to be a green snake. There is another man behind her with blond hair that keeps eyeing her, like she was a target."

"Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy. He has been after her since our fifth year began. She has been holding out for some reason."

"You are the reason Severus Snape. She likes you and began to have hope when Lily and you had that argument a year ago. At least I think that was the argument. James and Sirius told me many things and trying to keep them all straight isn't easy."

"It was about nine months ago. I made a terrible mistake by calling Lily a name that is terrible. She may never forgive me for it. But if Narcissa likes me, then why hasn't she said something?"

She is a proper, high bred female. She has pride and will not be asking a male out. Malfoy knows this and is looking for any weakening she has, and will pounce once he sees it. You must act fast if you have any feelings for this girl."

"Look, you know my name, and you never mentioned yours. So, what is it?"

"My name is Merl and I will be starting school this year with your class. I assume you are sixth year?"

"Merl what? You know my full name, so I need yours as well."

"Why in the world would you need my last name for. You won't be calling me by last name."

"I may, if I get angry enough at you."

"In that case I should definitely keep it to myself.

"You're not proud of your last name?"

"It's not a case of pride, Severus. True, I do know your last name, but I have no intention of using it to get your attention. You admittedly said that if you got mad, you would call me by it."

"I'll know it in a few days, and that is probably the next time I will see you."

"Well, you got me there. I guess I have no choice to tell you my last name is Smith."

"Please, spare me the humor. If Smith is your real last name, I will eat my hat at the opening feast. However, if it isn't, then you will be eating yours."

Bizz laughed at this, "I don't wear hats."

"You will at Hogwarts. It's required."

"Shit, you thought of everything, didn't you?"

"I don't take chances when it comes to my diet. Now tell me your real last name, or the bet is on."

"OK, OK. If you want to know the truth, my name is Merl Alma. I come from the States and I was home schooled until now."

"Home schooled, and you have such a strong Ligilamens talent. How are your occlumancy talents?"

"You already tested them so you should know."

"Right, so I did. Now you say that Narcissa has a liking for me? How would you know this if she isn't around for you to read her mind?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you have never seen it done before."

"How would you know, if I don't know what it is?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't."

"If you want me to believe that Narcissa cares for me, then you have to tell me."

"I don't have to tell you anything else. You can believe me or not, it is your choice."

"You are a hard person to figure out Merl Alma, You want me to believe you, but you won't tell me why I should. You know things others couldn't even guess. You tell me if I don't do as your ask, I will turn dark and follow Voldemort. You are strong in both mind magics and you say you are home schooled. I don't know why I should believe you, yet, for some reason, I do."

"So, does that mean you will talk to Narcissa when you get back to school? Or better yet, before you head back. The sooner the better. Malfoy isn't going to wait forever."

"I'm afraid it will have to wait until I get back to school, or at least on the train. Her home is protected and will not allow me to even get to the door. One thing in my favor though, is that Malfoy has the same restrictions."

"I could get you to the door, if you want me to?"

"You know, once again I believe you, but I think I can wait until the train ride to ask her out. That way, if Malfoy hears it that she agrees with my request, he will know she is off limits."

"You people sure have a strange sort of chivalry. If it was me, I would take any advantage I could get. You see what happened with you Lily."

"Yes, but that is one thing I cannot call Narcissa."

"You could call he a Pure Blood supremest and achieve the same results?"

"You are filled with all types of negatives, aren't you."

"It's who I am. Well, good luck anyway. See you on the train." and Bizz left a bewildered Severus standing there staring at him as he walked off. For some reason, he liked Severus Snape, even if Severus doubted him as much as he did.

Merlin-}

Bizz arrived two hours early for the train and found a cabin near the back as that was where the Slytherins sat. He wished to be near when Severus asked Narcissa out, and what Malfoys reaction was going to be. Bizz hoped he hadn't already asked the young lady out, as that would add more hurt to an already suffering Severus.

He was there 30 minutes when he was joined by Sirius and James, and one more he hadn't met as yet.

Sirius began right away, "Hey Merl, good to see you made it. I would like you to meet our friend and fellow Marauder, Remus Lupin."

Remus stuck his hand out for Merl, and Merl took it, and almost passed out when he felt the anger in the man. He kept hold of Remus to see if he could finds the reason for the anger, and what he found caused another shock. He was a Werewolf, but hated the fact that he was, and wished for anything to take the curse away. Perhaps later in the year, if they made friends, Merl would send Merlin to help him with his problem.

For some reason, Remus felt this information pass through him and on to Merl, and he then became frightened. He knew how people reacted to it when they found out what he was. The lone exception had been Lily, and he loved her for that.

Since they were still holding hands, Merl also got this information, and he had to ask, "Will someone please tell me why Lily Evans is so popular? She has three men in love with her, so she must be pretty special."

James gasped at this, "You say three? Who else is there beside Me and Snape? Wait a minute, you said this while holding Remus' hand. Remus, could you please explain?"

Without blinking an eye, Remus responded, "Yes, I love Lily, just like Sirius does, and Peter does, and who knows who else does. Are you going to tell me you are the only person who could love her, even though Severus loved her before you did?"

Sirius began to laugh his arse off at the answer, "He's right you know James, I do love her. Hell, I bet half the school loves her. However, because of Snape and you, they do nothing about it. I think Remus here fell for her as soon as you did, but he has something going against him that you don't have. There again, you have something against you that shows every time you talk to her. It's called stupidity. It's also called foot in mouth disease."

"Shut it you git. Remus, if you love Lily, why haven't you told her. Hell she would probably go out with you the moment you asked her. Now why did I say that? I just told you to ask out the girl I am going to marry? Damn it Sirius, why are you rubbing off on me?"

"Whoa there Doe Boy, I was asked a question and I gave an answer."

Bizz sat there laughing at the three of them. "You ask a simple question, and you get a comedy routine. I think I am going to like it here."

That was when things went sour. The fourth member of the Marauders walked in, and immediately Merl felt the presence of evil. "Excuse me, but I think I am going to find another cabin."

Sirius spoke up, "But you trunk is here. You don't have to leave, this is just our fourth member, Peter Pettigrew."

Peter put his hand out, but Bizz walked right by it and left the cabin. "What's his problem?" he said.

Sirius was about to respond when Remus got up as well, and walked out to find Merl.

He didn't need to go far as he found him just sitting down next to Lily. Remus entered before any words passed, "Merl, what did you feel in there? Hello Lily, sorry to barge in like this."

"Hello Remus. And Hello friend of Remus. My name is Lily Evans." and she held her hand out to him.

Merl had no idea who this beautiful lady was and now that he did, he knew what Remus said in the other cabin was true, At least half the students in Hogwarts must be in love with this enchantress. "I have heard nothing but praise about you Lily Evans. It is good to meet you. My name is Merl Alma. As for your question Remus, perhaps I should answer it later."

Lily looked at the two, "Maybe I should leave so you two could speak in private?"

"No Lily, I think you should stay and Merl should still answer my question. If it is what I think, then we have more in common than you know."

Merl perked up at this, "Do you suspect him as well?"

"Yes." was the soft answer Remus gave.

Then it was Lily's turn to speak, "Would one of you please tell me what is going on?"

Merl was about to speak when someone else rushed into the room. He pulled Merl up from his seat and hugged him for all he was worth. Lily saw this and broke out into laughter.

"Why Severus Snape, who would have thought you were that type."

Severus glared daggers at Lily, "The first time you speak to in over six months and that is all you have to say? Lily Evans you are a hateful person. I was just showing my thanks to Merl here for heading me in the right direction."

Merl smiled, "She said yes, didn't she?"

"Yes she did, and it was in a beautiful way. She jumped off her seat and into my arms and practically shouted out yes. I don't know how you knew, but thank you my friend. Now, did I interrupt something in here?"

Remus was about to say something, but Lily shut him up with a slap to his arm. Merl then started, "Hey Sev, I'm glad I could help. Remus and I were just about to start a debate about something, and Lily was going to be a judge."

"This should be fun, and I would love to sit and watch, but I believe I am going back and sit with my future date."

"SEVERUS SNAPE! You just can't walk off and not tell us who she is?"

"You're not going to believe me, but it's Narcissa Black."

Lily laughed when she heard the name. "It sure did take her long enough to catch you. I can't believe you were that blind to miss all her innuendos. She came to me after our disagreement and asked me to help her get her man. She felt the pressure from Malfoy, and didn't want anything to do with him. However, because it was Malfoy, no other man would come around her and it pissed her off. Her words, not mine. She told me that she liked you from the first time she saw you."

Severus couldn't believe Lily had been a part of Narcissa trying to get him to notice her. The very girl he had fallen in love with the first time he saw her. "Why did you agree to help her?"

"Because you needed someone to help you get over me. Severus, please listen to me. You and I were the best of friends when we came to school, and it never went beyond that point with me. I'm sorry, but it's true. I loved you, but as a friend and not someone I could fall in love with. You had a different set of goals than me, and they went in opposite directions. I am hoping Cissa can get you off that direction and back to reality. She does believe that blood lines mean something, but not to the point of killing those not of your blood status. Listen to her when you get together. She will explain what I am talking about. Now, could we please get back to the question at hand. Remus you were going to tell me what you and Merl agreed with."

"Do you want me to leave?" Severus pointed out.

Remus was about to say yes, when Merl said, "It may be best if you stayed. Lily, I was sitting with Remus, James and Sirius, and we were getting along just fine, when their fourth member walked in. This Peter was black with evil. I could feel it from three meters away. I could not stay around it it was so bad. I think Remus either feels it as well, or, and I am sorry about my use of words Remus, but, I think he smelled the evil coming off him."

Lily was infuriated at Merl's words but saw Remus begin to laugh out loud. He thought Merl was funny.

Severus was ready to sit down and watch the fight when Remus broke out into laughter. Him and Lily shared looks of wonder.

Remus got himself under control, "Lily, I'm laughing because Merl was right. I smelled evil coming off Peter. I left to follow him and find out if it was true and he felt the evil as well. I don't know why I felt it now, but it was very strong."

Severus put two and two together and answered Remus' concern. "I think I can answer your question, Remus. I can't be for certain it happened, but I saw Peter and Lucius together in Diagon Alley about one week into our summer Hols. Remus, they were walking down the Alley with their arms around each others shoulder. The were coming out of Knockturn Alley."

Lily was next, "You think Peter has taken the mark?"

"Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Three

The cabin holding Lily seemed to be a favorite gathering place for all the men on the train. After Severus left to look for Cissa, James, Peter and Sirius walked in. Sirius spoke up, "There you are Rem. Why did you leave so suddenly, and you too Merl. What happened?"

Merl's answer was to get up and try to leave again, however, Sirius stopped him, "What the hell is going on here? Why are you leaving every time you see us?"

Still not speaking, Merl pulled his arm from Sirius' grip and walked out of the cabin. Remus stayed where he was, ready to expose Peter for what he was. However, if Severus was wrong, and Peter hadn't yet received the mark, then He himself would become suspect. He could still smell something off around Peter. It was a foul odor that reeked of evil. It could just be Peter talking to Malfoy and thinking about joining him. It was a difficult spot for Remus to be in.

Lily saw where Remus was having a difficult time coming up with an excuse so she tried to help him out, "James, Sirius, this fellow Merl came into my cabin with something bothering him, and Remus followed him in. Merl didn't know who I was and tried talking to me when Remus entered. Before they could say anything, Severus walked in and grabbed Merl and Hugged hum. That started a long talk about what happened with Severus. It seems Merl helped Severus out with a relationship and now he is dating Narcissa Black."

Sirius about had a heart attack, "What? Severus and Narcissa dating? Not if I can help it. I can't believe she is even considering it."

Lily stood up and grabbed Sirius' shirt and pulled him close, "Sirius Black, don't you even go there. Severus is a good man, and much better than the other man chasing her. Besides Narcissa has said she wished Severus would look at her the way he looks at me. So you leave them alone, or I swear, I will make your life a living hell."

"Lils, who could be worse than Severus to date? I have to protect her for the Black Family Name."

"The Black family name? You hate the fact you are a Black. You would change your name to Potter if you could. It's not the name you are trying to protect, it's the money that goes along with it."

"That may be true to a point, but still, Severus and Narcissa are not even blood equals. Not that it bothers me, but if Cissa marries out of blood, she will lose everything due her when the time comes."

"And you think that bothers her? You are just as bad as your brother, if that is all that matters. Besides, who said anything about getting married. It's just two people trying to get to know each other. What it brings about should be no concern of yours."

Peter stood there listening to what was being said, and thought it a good idea for him to leave and tell Lucius all about it. "Excuse me, but all this mushy stuff is making me ill. I think I'll make a trip to the Loo." and he walked out.

Once he was out of hearing distance Remus stopped the talk between Lily and Sirius, "James, Sirius, everything Lily said is true, but it is not the reason I came in here with Merl. Merl came in here to get away from the evil he was feeling from Peter. I followed him, suspecting it was something like this, because I smelled the evil coming from him as well. Pads, Prongs, we believe that Peter has taken the mark. I couldn't say anything while he was around and Severus said he saw Peter and Lucius walking together in Knockturn Alley. It was Severus who said he thinks Peter has taken the mark."

"You believe Snivellus over Peter? Remus, Peter has been with us from the start. He is a part of the Marauders. He would never go against us." James did his best to back Peter.

"There is one way to find out. Get him to take his coat and shirt off. If he refuses to do so, then it should be proof enough." Remus returned.

Then Lily got back into the conversation, "Maybe we can get him to do it without making it seem like we are questioning him. I could spill something on him that would create a smell that is over powering. Like essence of Murtlap and Stink Weed. They are two ingredients used in the making of a soothing cream Professor Slughorn told Sev and I about."

"Why would you be making it on the train?" Sirius asked.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Not here you dummy, when we get to Hogwarts. We don't have to prove anything right now. But we do have to watch what we say around him until we know for sure. We can't be too careful."

Remus continued it from there, "Lily may have something there, Prongs. Until we know for sure about Peter, we need to be careful what we say."

"What can we say that we have to be careful about it? Do we have secrets that will change the course of history if it becomes known?" Sirius snapped.

"We just saw him leave when he found out Severus was going on a date with Cissa. Who do you think was the one that was after her? I'll tell you to save you a headache Pads, It was Lucius Malfoy. I think he went running to him to report what he heard. They could be cornering Severus while we speak."

That was when Merl entered the cabin again, "They tried, but I got to Severus before they did, and stopped anything from happening. Severus and Narcissa are locked in the cabin we had. I put a spell on it to keep them safe. The question is, how will we protect him while we are at school?"

"No, the question is, how did you know there was going to be an attack on him?" James couldn't believe what was happening. Peter becoming a Death Eater. Severus becoming good. The world as he knew it was becoming a shambles.

"I didn't know until I saw Peter leave soon after I did. I followed him for a bit to read his mind. It was just to see what he was up to, and found where he has not yet taken the mark, but he will be taking it once we are finished with school. It seems certain things have to be done to receive the mark. He is still a risk to have around. He could pass on information about your pranks and maybe have them reversed on you. He could tell them where you might be at a given time, for them to get revenge on one of you."

James and Sirius looked at each other and saw where this could happen, if what they heard was true. Peter could become a liability to their plans for the year.

The train finally pulled in at Hogsmeade and the students departed the train and made their way to the carriages to take them to the castle.

Merl left the others to make his way to the front of the first years. He felt out of place with all the junior students. Not superior to them, but older. He listened as the hat sang a song about why the sorting was so important to the school and the students. Then he got ready to approach the bench as Minerva called his name. He looked to James, Sirius and Remus, and knew they were wishing him luck. He took a seat on the stool and waited.

"Hmmm strong mind, yes. A block even I can't penetrate. Unusual for one so young. Please lower your shield so that I may sort you properly."

Merl just told him, "If I do that, you may not like what you see. Not that it is evil, but not what you expected."

"So, how am I to sort you then?"

"Just put me in Gryffindor House."

"I can't do that because the traits you are showing are of Slytherin. Is that where you wish to go?"

"I just told you where I wish to go."

"And I told you why I can't. If you wish to go to Gryffindor, then open your mind to me."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." and the thoughts hit the hat like a tidal wave.

"Who is this Luke Skywalker fellow? And Yoda. This Darth Vader sounds like Lord Voldemort. You're Alien? How did you get here. And now you are here posing as Merlin. What is your purpose here Bizz Alma?"

"I tried warning you. Please don't expose me to Dumbledore, he thinks I really am Merlin, only in my older form. I am here to try and help. Look,can we talk later, we are spending too much time here, and people are starting to stare. Please, just put me in Gryffindor and I promise I will give you my whole story before long."

"This goes against my principle, but, it must be Gryffindor!"

Merl jumped off the stool and went to the Gryffindor table to be accepted by James, Sirius,Remus and Lily. He passed on the three stooges and went right to Lily. He pulled her into a hug and gave James a wink. Lily began to struggle trying to get out of his hug. "Merl, if you want to live another five minutes, you'll let go of me now."

Merl laughed as he let go of Lily, "Sorry Lily, I was just trying to get ol' James here a bit jealous. I may have over done it."

"Yes, you did do that. But if it works, more power to you. He needs to be brought down to ground level. Just don't let it go to your head, as I don't need to be fighting off another suitor."

Merl laughed once more, "I can see where this is going to be a fun year."

The rest of the evening went by quickly and the students were released for the night and the second through seventh years left followed by the first years following the prefects. Lily happened to be one of them.

Severus was walking back to the dorm with Cissa when he was cornered by Lucius and his gang of thugs. "Kind of out of your league there aren't we Snape. Narcissa was meant for someone else. Someone of better blood status. Someone like me."

"Well Lucius, I think that is up to Cissa to decide. I just asked her out and she accepted. You will just have to wait until she gets tired of me. Now if you will excuse us, we wish to make it back to the dorm before curfew."

The gang did not get out of their way, and even closed in on the two. Lucius had his wand out and was ready to cast a spell, when his wand was shot out of his hand. He turned to see an old man standing there pointing his wand at the group.

"Is this the way Slytherin settles there differences, by ganging up on someone they don't like or have a difference of opinion with. I dare say it doesn't sound like a sporting way to settle a problem."

"I'm sorry Professor, I lost my head. I just got a little angry at Severus here."

"And for what reason were you angry at him?"

Before Lucius could comment, Narcissa spoke up, "Professor Dumbledore sir, Severus and I were walking when these four stopped us and told Severus to forget what he and I did. Lucius has the idea that I am his property."

"Is this true Mr. Malfoy?"

"No sir. Severus borrowed my book last year, and when I asked for it back, he said he didn't have it. I paid good money for that book and wanted it back."

Albus knew this was a lie, and for the first time anyone could remember he gave Malfoy detention for five days, and deducted 100 points from Slytherin for lying to a professor and for trying to injure a fellow student. He also called Severus and Narcissa to him and brought him up to his office.

"I know you two will be put in danger if you go back to your dorm, so, I think we should find you a different place to sleep. There is an old room that use to be for the head girl, before they shared a room with separate bedrooms. It isn't much, but it should place you in a safe spot. At least until Mr. Malfoy gets over his problem he has with Mr. Snape and you, Miss Black. The school will have your belongings moved to this room before we get there."

Albus' words were true as their trunks had been moved to the new room and accommodations were prepared for Severus to assure privacy. The two thanked the Professor for his concern and his help.

Severus and Cissa sat and talked for an hour before they split up and got ready for bed. Severus made plans to find Merl and thank him for opening his eyes to what he couldn't see. He would never have known Cissa cared for him because of his feelings for Lily. Now he had to try and be different with Cissa so he wouldn't lose her like he did Lily.

Merlin-}

Merl waited until everyone was asleep and then got up and went down to the sitting room, where he began to make the plans for the next two weeks. He wanted to help Remus with his problem, and talk to Severus about what he felt could be a problem with Malfoy. He also would try to talk to the hat again as it could be a source of information for him in the future. He also needed an intelligent mind to help him with getting to a final assessment of the future.

He then needed to get Dumbledore to finally realize that death was inevitable on both sides and by not killing the enemy, made them the stronger force. Only Merlin could get to him as his younger form would make him look weak in Dumbledore's eyes. He would never listen to a juvenile and take it serious. He knew that with age, a person became more stubborn with the thought of the youth taking charge. Being old did not always make one wise. Wisdom only came to those who can handle the responsibility of watching people die for a good cause, and for something they believe in. This happens on both sides of the battlefield.

Merl was shaken out of his train of thought when he heard someone coming down the steps. He turned to see Lily making her way down stairs and towards him. "Merl, what are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep, what's your reason, Lily?"

Lily made a gentle laughing noise, "Same with me, so I decided to come down and do some studying. What are you doing?"

"If I told you I was planning for the future, would you believe me?"

Now her laugh was more realistic, "I lose sleep for the same reason. I think about what it might have been like with Severus, then I try to see what it would be like with James or even Remus. I never thought about a life with Sirius. He is just too childish and ignorant."

"Oh, he means well, Lily. I do admit though, you two don't make a good match. James is more your type as he is a bit of a rogue, but wouldn't try to hurt anyone intentionally. Now Remus is a surprise to hear. When did you ever think of Remus in a romantic way?"

"When I found out about his problem. At first I felt sorry for him, knowing he could never look at relationships they way others do. Then it changed to caring for him because he didn't like what he was and tried to find ways to fight it, like Wolfsbane. He even goes into seclusion so he won't hurt anyone. When a person cares that much for his friends and others as much as he does, deserves to be with someone. It hurts me to think of what he has given up because of fear of hurting this person."

"Doesn't that scare you though? I mean being around him during a change."

"No, because I know he is doing everything he can to prevent hurting someone. I also don't think he would try to hurt me when he has changed. For some reason I can't explain, I think you feel this as well. You are a strange man Merl Alma. You try to act like a kid, yet you think like an old man. You have a power, the like of which I have never seen in one so young, and very few elders. Your mind magic is beyond any I have seen. You made friends with the hardest person I know for making friends. You made us aware of Peter and his change. What else is there about you that sets you apart from the rest of us?"

"I'm a pretty mean cook. I can sing and dance. I speak many different languages. OH, to go along with singing, I can yodel as well. Do you need any more examples?"

With as serious a face as she could muster, "Yes, you can tell me the truth about where you are from. I mean, come on. Being muggle born I know about movies and you saying you're from Alderron. Please don't use any more movie trivia for your stories. Star Wars is too new for you to be using it for references."

"Star Wars? What is that?"

"You mean to say you don't know Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Hans Solo and Darth Vader?"

Now it was Merl's time to almost pass out. "You know of these people? How is this. It happened many of your centuries in the past, and no where near this planet. Who are you really Lily Evans, and where do you come from?"

"Uh uh, no fair, I asked you first. Now spill it, where are you from?"

"Lily, if I tell you, it could jeopardize my assignment. But I really do need an ally to cover for me when I am elsewhere. Please sit down as this may take a while for you to believe."

"Merl, you're acting like you're a spy or something. If this is something you don't wish to be found out, then here is not the right place to speak on it. Come with me, and I will show you a place where we can speak freely without fear of being caught." and she led Merl to the seventh floor to a place she found out was called the come and go room.

Merl watched as the blank wall soon had a door that when opened, allowed them a place to sit and drink tea or whatever, while they talked. When the door closed, it disappeared and Merl could feel the magic setting the different spells for protection. This world never ceased to amaze him with the power of the mind it had in it's people. It was like his home planet five millennia back..

Lily started back up. "Now, you are free to empty your mind out to me without fear of someone hearing what you have to say other than me."

What Lily thought would take a few minutes turned out to be several hours. It was past breakfast when he finally finished. Lily called for a house elf to bring them some food and drink. Once they were finished, Lily asked some questions to make sure she got the story right. "So, you are from another world that helps turn someone into a hero and save the world, or die trying. You can't tell me who the hero is for this world because you don't want to give away what might not happen. You did tell me that you need to change Professor Dumbledore from his reluctance to kill his enemy. You are also here to prevent someone's death. Is that right?"

"Yes, but don't ask me to explain any further than that please, Lily. You have to trust me on this. And to let you know, only one other knows of my past here in Hogwarts."

Lily was quiet for a few minutes as she thought on that last statement, then she smiled, "Of course, the Sorting Hat would know. He got you to lower your defense so he could sort you and learned about your history. Now you need a way to speak to him again and explain why you are here, like you did with me. Correct?"

"Damn, You're good. I knew I had to confide in someone, and I think I chose correctly. It was either you, Remus or Severus. I think I would have been good with any of you three, but I like where I went with it. Perhaps later I could confide in another, but right now, just you and the hat."

"Now, to get back to what you were doing when I first came down the steps. You were drawing up your plans for the next few weeks. What did they include?"

"Dumbledore, Remus, Severus and Peter."

"Remus? Why him? No, wait, I think I can guess. You know of a way to cure him of his condition, don't you?"

"Yes I can, but only if I can get the right ingredients for the potion. How good do you get along with our Potions Professor?"

Lily was laughing once again, "You will have no problem there, Merl. I'm what Severus calls a teacher's pet. Professor Slughorn likes to pick out the students he thinks will become famous and adds them to his trophy collection. However with me, it's different. I really do like him, and made a few things for him that he cherishes, like a Goldfish that changes color to fit his mood. If he is gloomy, the fish turns grey. If he is angry, it turns red. If he is happy, it turns yellow or gold. His day all depends on the color of the fish when he first looks at him in the morning. So, I am good with him."

"I'll bet your good with all your Professors. Now, If I make a list of what I need, can you get it from the Professor?"

"If he has access to it, so do I. I'll just tell him it is for an experiment I wish to try out. I can even tell him your name as an assistant to the project and he would probably allow you to get what ever you need."

Merl thanked Lily for being open minded and believing what he told her. He also showed her his Merlin form and his real form. He had to wait for a few minutes when she passed out at his real form. Why is it no one can believe that was what he really looked like.

Once she was back from her nap, she apologized for fainting on him like she did. She also promised to help him in any way she could. They left the room and made their way down stairs to the Main Hall where Remus was sitting there getting ready to eat breakfast, He looked up as they approached and asked where they had been. Lily just told him that Merl was concerned about Severus and Malfoy and wanted to talk to me about it.

Remus raised his eyebrows at this. He knew Lily never lied, but she didn't always give the whole truth. She was holding something back from him, but it had to be for a reason so he didn't press the issue.

"Rem, where are James and Sirius? Still in bed?"

"Lily, there are no classes today. What do you think?"

"That's right, it's first day Friday. "

Merl looked lost at this. "What's first day Friday?"

"When ever the first day after the train trip is a Friday, it is a non school day for the first years, so that they can learn where the class rooms are. It also gives everyone else a chance to catch up on friendships they missed over the summer hols."

Merl listened as he filled his plate and then he looked for something he couldn't see, "Hey, does anyone know where the coffee is?"

Everyone that heard this looked up to see who asked it. One of them called out, "They don't serve that here, as least not to the students."

"Oh no, I'm not going to start my morning out like this. I just got use to the damn stuff, and now I'm told I can't have it. How the hell am I supposed to wake up without my coffee. Who do I have to speak to in order to get a cup?"

Lily and Remus just pointed to the Head Master. Merl looked back at Lily and mouthed "I really need to talk to him." Lily just nodded her head, understanding what he meant. She would make up an excuse about his being missing for how ever long it would take.

Merl planned on eating then find a place to make his change and then visit Dumbledore. As if it wasn't bad enough to have to get him to do away with this not killing the bad guys, now he has to find out why there is no coffee available to the students.


	4. Chapter 4

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Four

"Hey Pads, have you seen Merl around here anywhere? I've been looking for him for about ten minutes now."

"Sorry Prongsie, can't say that I have."

"I saw him about fifteen minutes ago James. He was headed for the Headmaster's office." Remus told him.

Lily had to do something to get them off course, "No he wasn't, Remus, he was heading for the Library. He had something to research to help me with a project I started. He said he would be a couple of hours and didn't wish to be disturbed."

"He must be sick to stay in the Library or two hours, even if it is for you Lils." Sirius got a hit in the arm for the remark.

"It's refreshing to see that there is another gentleman, besides Remus, now residing in Gryffindor. You should try to learn something from him. Oh, Wait. You should have already learned it from Remus, so I Guess you will remain an ignorant cur. Why can't you at least try to be a decent person Pads. James has started, so you should be able to as well."

"No can do, Lils. It goes against my principles. Besides, I have an image to protect. You are one of a hand full of girls who despise us rogues."

"And how many of those who aren't, have you scared away?"

"None. I moved on so as not to become too involved."

"Then explain Marlene for me. She seems to get to you every time she is around you, yet she still ignores you.

"I don't wish to discuss Marlene, if you don't mind. She is something of a different breed of woman. Like a wild Horse that can't be broken. Don't tell her I said that please. I just use it as a reference, not as a simile."

As they continued on with their discussion, another figure was moving through the castle heading for the Headmaster's office.

Merl came to the Gargoyle once again and looked at it, as if challenging it. On it's own accord, the Gargoyle moved out of his way. He got to the base of the stairs and started his change to Merlin before he mounted the steps. As soon as he was on them, they brought him to the top. He was done with his transformation by the time he reached the top. He fogged the minds of the portraits before he entered the doorway, so they could not report back to Dumbledore about who it was.

When Albus heard the knock, he looked to the portraits, but none could answer his unasked question as to who it was. He put away things he didn't wish others to see then asked the person to enter, and as soon as he saw who it was, he knew why his friends couldn't answer him. "Ah, Merlin, come in and take a seat. I wish I knew you were coming so that I could have had refreshments made ready. How can I help you this morning?"

"Sit down Dumbledore, we have much to discuss. First thing before I forget, it has been brought to my attention that there is no coffee available to the students. Why is that?"

"That is easy enough to explain. You see Merlin, coffee has a high degree of caffeine which is also used in many of our potions. If it mixes with the wrong potion, then some nasty after effects could take place."

"Bull shite, Dumbledore, as Tea has just as much or in some, even more than coffee, so try again."

"Hmmm, you seem to be up to date with your information, Merlin. That answer usually works on the others that ask the same thing. The real reason we don't serve coffee is because of how much we waste. Not all students like coffee, and when we tried serving it a few decades back, we wasted many gallons of it. When this went on for a few months, we stopped serving it."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place? I can believe that there is some waste with it, but isn't there waste with the tea as well?"

"Not near as much. However, with the new coffee machines they have out now, maybe we could start the program back up. But that can't be the only reason you are here."

"You know it isn't. Have you given any thought about what I told you when we first met. I haven't heard about any attacks lately."

"There haven't been any for about three months now. However I have thought on what you said. I see where you might think it weak of me to allow our enemies to live, but it is hard for me to allow someone I consider a friend to kill another person. Do you realize what it does to their soul when this happens?"

"Do you realize what happens to their body if they don't. With the soul, the person still lives on. With out the body, there is no more living. There are ways to save a person from what he or she has done. There is no reviving one that is dead. Your people's numbers cannot be with out end, Dumbledore. There will come a time when there will be no one left to serve you. What then?"

Albus was quiet for a moment, then he went into a story for Merlin, "There once was a time when I was required to kill to save those I love. Then I did the one thing that stopped me from doing it anymore. I had an argument with a colleague that ended with the death of one I loved. My sister Ariana died because a fight broke out between us and I still to this day don't know which one of was the killer. I don't wish this burden on any others."

"I'm sorry for that Dumbledore, but what you are doing now is the same thing, except it is done by the enemy because they fight knowing they won't die at your hands. They fight without fear of being killed. Your people die yet they still fight for you. Do you know why? It is because they are fighting for a cause. One that they will never win unless they are given the order to fight to survive. For that to happen, then the enemy must see that death was now a reality to them. Fear is a great equalizer."

"What you say is true, but I cannot give that order. If that means I must give up my position as leader of the Light, then so be it. I know of two others that should take up that position. Amelia Bones and Alastor Moody are both quite capable leaders."

"Would that mean you would quit fighting your enemy?"

"No, I would still be there for them, but as a comrade, not a leader. I should have done this long ago, but I was looked to for their directions and I took that as their being OK with my leadership. I was wrong to look at it like that. They were following my orders because they didn't think there was anyone else capable of leading them."

Merlin now had a different picture of Albus Dumbledore to see. One that killed, but didn't wish any others to be put under that kind of pressure. One that did not wish to be the one to order his friends to kill another person, even if they themselves were being killed.

Merlin then went to the next topic, to get Dumbledore off this topic. "What have you heard about the Malfoy, Snape incident?"

Merlin finally saw a smile once again on the Professor's face, "I caught Mr. Malfoy trying to hit Mr. Snape with a curse. I stopped him and asked them what it was all about. Mr. Malfoy lied to me and Miss Black told me why he attacked them. I took points from Mr. Malfoy, and gave him detention. I then removed Mr. Snape and Miss Black from the Slyhterin Dorm and placed them in another area where they would be safe from harm."

"What about classes and the travel to and from their safe area?"

"I'm afraid I can only do so much. It is up to them to find their way around. Unless of course you can think of another way to help them?"

Merlin now smiled for Albus, "I might be able to give them a helping hand, with a little help from a few students I have an acquaintance with. I will look into that for you, if you wish?"

"I would appreciate any help I can get. Merlin, about our second subject. I know it makes me sound weak in your eyes, but I don't like the idea of people I call friends being ones to take another's life. Every time it happens, they lose a little piece of their soul."

"No, they don't. It would seem like that to them at first, but with help from their friends, they will see that they are the same people they were before it happened. It may also be pointed out that by doing what they did, may have saved a life of someone they cared about. It takes more than just killing a person to lose a piece of your soul. You have to be willing to give it up in order to do that. A piece of their mind may be lost, but there again, friends can help them with that as well."

"Do you know of the ritual where one gives up a piece of their soul?"

"Yes I do, and it is not one that sits well with me. The person has to know what he is doing and why. It is for no other reason that a person kills than to give up this piece of his soul, just so that he still lives on even when he should be dead. It a most terrible act."

"Did you know that Voldemort has performed this on himself, more than once."

"No, I didn't. Do you know how many times he has done it?"

"At least three. Probably more. You might be able to help me with these if you can see yourself working with me?"

"You know what you are looking for? How is that even possible?"

"Research. Long hours with no sleep. Probing others minds. Asking many questions. What does it matter how I did it. I did and I know of three. A ring, A cup and a charm. They all belong to a Founder of the school. Like I said, there probably are some more out there."

"If you know they exist,then why haven't you gone out looking for them? There must be some hints as to where they might be."

"And where would I go looking for these hints? I don't think he has the locations written down anywhere. I have tried looking for them, when ever I get the chance, but it hasn't been easy breaking away from school to go look."

"Where would the safest place be to hide them?"

"Gringotts for one. Here would be another. Places no one would ever think to look. I don't think he keeps them around him because of how many times he has comeback after being thought dead. The body left behind would have them, and none have been left. I think you and I have to put aside some time to go over what I have and how I found out about it. In the mean time, is there anything I can do for you?"

"You could lend me the Sorting Hat for a couple of hours. He asked me something and I told him I would get back to him."

"What did he ask you?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, as it is too personal. He saw a glimpse of it when I opened up my mind for him. I had to sit and think about what he asked me before I could give him an answer, and yes it has to do with my past."

"I see, so it is different than what is said in our history?"

"Which history are we talking about as I have seen so many different accounts of what is was. None of which is the truth by the way."

"Could you answer me one question then?"

"If I can."

"Where are the roots of magic found? Where was it first found?"

"A very good question. To be honest, it has always been around. As far back as the Stone Age, Magic was there. How else do you think our race survived. One person was looking for a weapon to defeat his enemy and to provide food for his family. Fire was that first weapon. Then he learned that wood, when burned, would provide heat and his first hand held weapon. Oh, you might think it was a branch that had a split on it and a rock secured in this split, but it wasn't. It was a branch that was partially burned that they learned how to sharpen it and use it first as a lance, then to use it as a spear."

"So you weren't the first magician?"

"No, I wasn't. That honor would go to the Asian population. It was them that came up with the title and recognized it for what it was. I was just the first recognized wizard in Great Briton. There were Druids that had magic, and some of them were very strong, but for some reason there was a Prophecy that told them of the coming of a great wizard who would lead them to their rightful place in history. Unfortunately, I failed with that because of a betrayal. I can't go any further with that."

"There is no need for you to, as all of us know about this betrayal."

"Then I will leave it at that. Now, can I borrow the hat for about two hours and then bring it back?"

"There is no need Myrrdyn Emrys. I have already learned all I needed to know. I know that your placement is as it should be. I also learned the answer to my question, among other answers. You have nothing to fear as it will stay with me. The fire that burns in your mind will never be told by me." The hat had been reading Merl's mind the whole time he was there. Merl was hoping he would, to save him the trouble of trying to get him away from Dumbledore. He felt the poking of Dumbledore as well, but was able to leave his defenses up strong enough to block him, yet let the hat in.

"Thank you sir. You are as stong as I thought. I know Dumbledore was trying to read my thoughts. I just hoped my blocks weren't too strong to block you as well. Since I have already answered his question, then I think it is time for me to leave. I will get back with Dumbledore." and Merlin got up and left.

Albus didn't even try to stop him as it would have failed, and his trust would have been lost to Merlin.

When Merl got back to the dorm, he was hit with a hundred questions from James, Sirius and Remus. But when he saw Peter standing there, he walked right past them and up to his bed.

Peter took this as Merl knew something about him and did everything he could to avoid him. He could become a danger to his plans. He was told that in order for him to begin the process of becoming a Death Eater, he had to betray a friend. Sirius was going to be that one he betrayed, but with this Merl hanging around, that was beginning to look impossible. It would have to be someone else. Then he thought, he already did betray someone. Severus wasn't quite a friend, but he did betray him to Lucius. Perhaps that would suffice for this act.

Lily saw what Merl did when he saw Peter, and she had to talk to him about what he was doing. If he continued on the way he was acting around Peter, then Peter may leave the Marauders because of him thinking the group had lost trust in him. He didn't want to bring unwanted notice to himself. She shuddered when she thought she was starting to think like Peter. It was not a very pleasant feeling.

Remus also noticed Merl's behavior and felt differently than Lily. He felt by Merl acting the way he did would force Peter's hand into doing something that would show his true colors. He was glad it was Merl, as a newcomer would be less apt of knowing what the problem was and would thus be less of a factor in Peter's thinking. If he only knew how wrong he was, he would do something to settle the problem Peter presented by being there.

James and Sirius saw the expression on Peter's face and knew a showdown was soon to come between Peter and Merl. If that happened, then they pitied poor Peter. Merl, they knew, was not one to mess with. He was not what he appeared to be and they were glad that he seemed to be on their side.

Sirius took it futher by wondering why Merl took such a liking to Snape. He was a hard person to make friends and to get to know. He even tried to understand how he was able to do it. He knew he could never be friends with the Slytherin because of the way they each thought of blood purity. Sirius hated the thought of one man thinking himself above another because blood status. Severus thought that even though he was a half blood, it still put him above a muggleborn. That was why he lost Lily. He couldn't get past the fact that she was a muggleborn and yet she was so much stronger than some of the pure blood students in school.

Merlin-}

The school year was moving along quite rapidly and for most, quite dramatically. Merl had asked the Marauders, minus Peter to help him protect Severus and Cissa. Sirius only helped because Cissa was included in the act. However he did see where Narcissa was quite taken with Severus and her feelings were shared by him. In every encounter they had with Malfoy and his friends, Severus always made sure he was between his enemies and Narcissa. If they were surrounded, she was against a wall with him in front of her. Sirius saw this and though he never said anything to him, he thanked Severus in his mind.

With the Christmas Hols approaching, Severus and Narcissa were thinking they would be staying at school because of the train ride. Merl took care of this by visiting Albus in his Merlin form. He asked him to allow the two to floo to a selected spot after the train pulled out, and for them to meet him there.

James agreed to Merl's request that they stay with him and Sirius at his parents home. Since they were the only people there, there was more than enough room for them to stay. Merl would be there as well.

During this time up until the Christmas Hols, Peter was seen less and less by his friends, and often found around people like Avery and Nott. He didn't try to be seen with Malfoy, but that didn't keep him from seeing him secretly.

Just before the break, the faceoff between Peter and Merl took place in the Main Hall, and the entire school witnessed it. It went sour from the beginning for Peter. He raised his wand first and before he had it leveled at Merl, it was out of his hand and in Merl's. No one ever saw the move Merl made to take the wand. Then Merl sent the wand back to Peter and told him to store it or use it. Peter looked to the Professors table to see their expressions. None of them showed any signs concern for the incident and Peter took this as a sign to continue if he wished. He turned to Merl and fired off a stunner that never found it's mark. It appeared to just end in mid flight, like something absorbed it.

Peter then tried to fire another spell at his opponent, but he had moved from his last location, and Peter couldn't find him, until he felt something sticking him in the neck. "Drop your wand and turn around. If you change those commands in any way I will end this fight in a different way then I intended."

Peter knew what was meant by that statement and dropped his wand to the floor. The voices coming from the Slytherin table told him of the disappointment of his showing. He then turned to the Marauders and saw them turn their backs to him. He knew then he was no longer considered a member of the group. Even Lily turned her back to him, and for some reason, this infuriated him. It was different having a witch reject him. She had no right to turn her back on him as he was a Wizard and was thus a higher person. Even after being around her all thus time, he hadn't learned that the thought of a male being superior to a female was the silliest nonsense she ever heard. She had put James and Sirius in their places on several occasions because of this way of thinking.

It was because of this that Peter bent down and picked his wand back up and leveled it at Lily and fired a spell that was illegal in school. If it hit Lily, she may have died, but it didn't because Merl was still watchful of Peter. Once again the spell stopped in mid air and then disappeared. But Peter's wand also disappeared before he could do anything with it, and saw it resting once again in Merl's hand.

Professor Dumbledore made his way to the two facing off. He looked to Merl and said, "Mr. Alma, what you did saved another student, and that should be commended, however to allow it to escalate to that level was in poor judgement. Once you have returned from the Hols, you will serve three days of detention. Mr. Pettigrew, do not think you will be getting off that easy. You started this altercation and even though it was requested you forget it, you continued. You lost and then tried it again. Once again you lost and this time you tried to hurt one who was unprotected, or so she thought. Only the quick thinking of your opponent saved her life. You will come to my office where I will contact your mother and tell her that you have been removed from Hogwarts for the rest of this school year. We will review your status during the summer hols to see if you can return." and the two moved away from the crowd and were soon lost to sight when the entered the corridor leading to the Headmasters office.

Remus, James and Sirius came forward and James jumped to the forefront and hugged Merl saying thank you. There were tears in his eyes as he said it. Sirius made the mistake of trying to pull James off of Merl, and James turned on him. Sirius saw the tears and backed off, "Prongs, I'm sorry. I just wanted to greet our newest member of the Marauders."

"You heard what Dumbledore said didn't you Pads? Merl saved Lily's life. That is much more to be thankful for then to be greeted into the Marauders. That is one I will never forget and forever be thankful for. You could have waited until I properly thanked him for saving our most precious possession."

Up to that point, Lily had been smiling at what James had admitted to. But being called a possession was too much for her to take, "What do you mean Your Most Precious Possession, as if you own me, James Potter."

James felt the fire coming from Lily and tried his best to comfort her, "Lils, I wasn't thinking straight. My words came out wrong. You know I don't feel that way. Well, I do in a sense, but not owning you. I care for you more than you realize. I have since I first set eyes on you. Seeing Severus sitting so close to you had me wishing it was me sitting there. You have seen how I acted my first five years here, when I am around you. I did stupid things trying to impress you. Just now when I saw Pettigrew try to kill you, I almost lost my mind. It was still in a fog when Sirius pulled me from your savior."

This did calm Lily down, but it was too good to pass on, "If you ever make a claim like that again Potter, I will do something you will never forget."

"No matter what you do Lils, I could never forget you. Please forget I made that stupid remark. But always remember you are more precious to me than being a Marauder."

Sirius was about to say something about that when Remus put his hand over his mouth and said to him, "Now is not the time to make some ridiculous statement about being a Marauder first and then a lover. If you did, then both Lils and James would have turned on you. Now James wouldn't have hurt you, but God knows what Lily would have done to you. Are you willing to give her the motivation to do this to you?" Sirius didn't move for a second, thinking what Lily could do to him, and he shuddered at the thought. He shook his head no and Remus released his friend.

Now, on the train, the five sat and talked about what they would be doing over the break and who they would be visiting. Alice Festiscue and Selena Knight would be on Lily's list of visits. Frank Longbottom and Andromeda Tonks would be on James and Sirius' list.

Sirius thought about Andy and her daughter Nymphadora. Andy married a muggle named ted Tonks, but Ted knew of magic because of a relation of his. Still, if Andy could marry a Muggle and be happy, that put a different light on the matter of Cissa and Severus. Why shouldn't she be happy with a half blood, if he is the one she wants. With them waiting for him at James' house, he would try to put his and Severus' problems behind them. He had to give their life together to blossom and prosper. If he didn't, then he would be lowering himself to his family's level of thinking. With the loss of his brother, he had to keep what ever family members he had left close. Except for Bella. He knew she was lost to the family and would probably never get her back.

Merl was in a world of his own, deep in thought. He hadn't been there a year yet, and already he was making a difference. Peter had been the biggest obstacle in his plans to help the Potters and Blacks. He had removed that obstacle with out any help, except for Peter himself. He had just finished the potion for Remus about a month ago and would be his present to him on Christmas. Lily's help in getting the ingredients was great, and her help in brewing the potion gave her something to think about once school was finished. Merl's plan was working better than he imagined, however, he knew somewhere down the road, an obstacle would appear and it would be a tough one to avoid. It was this obstacle that he didn't look forward to. He feared someone may die because of it, and he didn't look forward to seeing who it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Five

Merl had heard music from every planet he visited, and some of it he liked, while most of it he didn't understand. However, the music he heard during this Holiday season on Earth was some of the most beautiful music he ever listened to. It was spiritual, melodic, funny and sentimental. Even to the point of bringing tears to some of the listeners.

He wasn't one of these, but he agreed that it was moving and heart warming. He knew that the beliefs of the majority were unfounded and that there was no true one supreme being, but faith has always pulled people together and believing in the one true god to these people was their faith, hope and understanding that this upcoming day was the birth of the one god's child, Jesus Christ.

He had trouble understanding the concept when he first heard it, but never said anything about it to Lily, who was the one to explain it to him. He knew of the reproduction workings for this race, and to reproduce without one of the participants was more than highly irregular. It was near impossible.

The sharing of gifts was another thing he had trouble understanding, although he did purchase gifts for his friends. He did this because he had something for Remus, and couldn't give him one and not the rest. He had to purchase gifts for James, Sirius, Severus, Narcissa and finally one for Lily.

If Sirius had been following Merl as he shopped for gifts, he would have fallen down laughing at the selection. For James, he got him a book on how to treat a lady. For Sirius, he got a book on how keep from making a fool of ones self. For Severus, he got him a bottle of Shampoo for oily hair. Narcissa got a guide to understanding a man with self awareness problems. Then for Lily, he got her a necklace that was a perfect complement to her hair. It was a silver necklace that had a single stone setting of a gemstone called Apatite. It was a light green/blue stone of about 12 millimeters round.

When he learned he needed to wrap the gifts before giving them to the person, he was lost. Once again he went to his favorite source, Lily. Lily promised he would help him wrap the gifts, and once she started, she lost her battle to keep from laughing. She never saw her own gift, but the ones she did see promised her a laugh or two on Christmas day.

Merlin-}

Peter had been wrong about his thought of his betrayal of Severus. Voldemort was not pleased with him for being kicked out of school. He was upset with him for letting a new person defeat him. He almost killed him because he failed on so many levels. He expected much from his followers and when he was disappointed with them, he let them know in a most unpleasant manner. Peter had to crawl off after learning this the hard way. He didn't get away quite fast enough, as Voldemort told him that he wanted this Merl dead by Peter's own hand if he wanted to earn his Mark.

Luckily, Peter knew where he would be staying, since he had become good friends with James and Sirius. He didn't know how this Merl could like them as much as he did. It always bothered Peter to force himself to act like he enjoyed being around the arrogant Black and Potter. Remus and Lily were good people, if you liked that sort. Remus was hard to take some of the time because of his connection with the two prats. Lily he liked being around, just to smell her. She always had that sweet fragrance of flowers in bloom. Lilacs, Honeysuckle and roses were the most common fragrances. If he was to finally get his Mark, and was there at the end, he would ask his lord for Lily as his plaything.

Merlin-}

Three days before Christmas, Remus was sitting under a tree, waiting for the full moon. He excused himself from a Christmas party at Alice's, telling her he was not feeling quite himself. He was in one of his worst moods ever. He wanted this damn curse lifted more than anything else in the world, and wondered what he had done to deserve this monthly torture.

He was so caught up in his self pity, he didn't hear the approach of another figure. Merl took a seat next to Remus and startled him so bad, he fell off the log he was sitting on. "Shite, Merl, let a person know you there before giving him a heart attack. How did you find me, and why are you here?"

This got Merl laughing, "I am in training to be a Marauder, am I not? I couldn't pass on a perfect set up, now could I? I followed you when you left and heard the location you gave for your night of being by your self. Now, for why I am here, is to give you this." and he him handed the vial with the potion he made. "When you start to feel the change, I want you to drink this all down before the change is complete. Don't waste a single drop as it is measured to your precise size."

"What is it?" but before Merl could answer, Remus felt the change coming on. He looked down at the vial in his hands, and threw caution to the wind and drank it down, even shaking the last few drops from the vial. The change was coming quickly and he thought that nothing changed from drinking the contents of the vial. Then it hit him. He felt something being pulled from his body that he swore was his insides. It was like someone reaching into his body and pulling out his lungs, heart, intestines and every bone in his body. He fell to the ground, it hurt so bad. He felt like he was on fire and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He looked to Merl and saw him smiling at him like it was expected.

Remus began rolling on the ground, feeling his innards being ripped apart. It hurt so bad that the tears coming from his eyes even hurt. Then, all at once, It stopped. The ripping, tearing and the pulling all stopped. His change also stopped. He lay on the ground, catching his breath while his system settled down from the pain he just went through. He brought his hand to his face to see five fingers. Normal, everyday, human fingers. Not the long, Hairy and sharp nailed fingers of the wolf.

He was finally able to sit up and checked his body for any damage that might have been done. Then he looked back to Merl. "Happy Christmas, Remus Lupin."

The tears flowing from his eyes didn't hurt this time. They burned a little as his face was scratched in many places from his thrashing about, but it felt wonderful. "You know of course that it is not Christmas just yet? But hey, I won't tell if you don't. What was that stuff, not that I am complaining?"

"It was cure for your Lycanthropy. A little something I found in the school library. Lily was brilliant in her help for this. She got the ingredients from From Professor Slughorn and helped me to brew it. So, I guess you could say that this was from the both of us."

Remus got up and helped Merl up and pulled him in for a hug of thanks. "I may have to be different with Lily for her thanks. I can honestly say that the time you spent in the Library was very much appreciated. I honestly thought Lily had been covering for you when she said you were there. I am so thankful I was wrong. Where exactly did you find the book? I even looked in the restricted area and couldn't find anything about my problem, except for Wolfsbane."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Professor Dumbledore found me in the restricted section and asked me what I was looking for I said, "I am looking for something that would help with Severus' oily hair and for Sirius' problem with his attitude, so I guess I am looking for cures to everyday ailments."

"In the restricted section? he laughed. I didn't see what was so funny. So he told me what I was looking for would not be found in the library. He took me to hi s office and handed me a book on grooming, breeding and posture. I found the cure under the posture chapter. It seems that a werewolf has problems later on in life and it would lead to some serious conditions. It said the only way to prevent it was to do away with the problem. It gave me the ingredients to a cure of your malady. It was all of two paragraphs. I still wonder if he ever read the book."

Remus looked at Merl as if he had grown a second head. "The Professor gave you the book to use? And he didn't know he was giving you a cure to Lycanthropy? I think you are wrong. I think he knew it was there and that was why he let you borrow the book. He is a pretty tricky character when he wants to be."

Merl thought on what Remus said. It could have been that Dumbledore knew what was in the book and only gave it to a person who asked a question without asking for a cure to the curse. He was sure if he had asked for it as Merlin, he would gotten it anyway, but to get it as Merl, it seemed harmless enough. "Maybe you're right Remus, and he did know what he was giving me. Why didn't James or Sirius ever ask about your problem to him?"

"You have to remember that we only saw him when we were in trouble. Not the best time to be asking about cures of any type. Besides, we didn't even think of there being such a potion. I was always told there was none. Of course I never asked the Professor."

They made it back to James' home and Merl walked in to prepare James, Sirius and Lily about who was with him. What he walked into was everyone in the middle of floor dancing to a different song that had nothing to do with the time of the year. It did have to do with his favorite friend. The song was 'Pictures of Lily'or at least that was what Merl thought it was. Merl asked the wrong question to Sirius, "Sirius, Who sings this song?"

"That's right."

Merl looked confused, "What's right? All I did was ask a question."

"Well, it was right."

"What am I missing here, I asked Who was singing this song?"

"There's your answer." Sirius laughed.

"What the hell are you talking about. Who sings this song?"

"If you know the answer, why do you keep asking me?"

"I just want to know who sings this song?"

"And you keep answering your question. Why do you find it so hard to believe that The Who sing this song?"

"Who sings it?"

"That's right."

Merl stood there not wanting to say another word. He tried to get the last five minutes out of his head, and try to get Lily and James attention. They saw him wave to them and they walked over to him, "Hey Merl, where did you take off to?" James asked.

"I followed Remus."

Both James and Lily stood there in shock. "I take it you didn't find him?" Lily asked.

"Of course I found him. He is right outside."

"You idiot you, why did you bring him back. Don't you know what he is capable of when he is in this condition?" James shouted, which got everyone's attention. James lowered his head and shook it, not believing what he had just done.

Sirius came running back to them, "What the heck is going on here James?"

"Merl brought Remus back to the party." Sirius dropped down into a chair that was behind him.

"Poor Moony will never forgive us in the morning. What ever gave you the idea it was safe for Remus to come back here tonight, Merl?"

Merl tried to hold back his laughter, "Well, we talked about it on the way back here, and felt the night was still early, so why not." about that time there was a knock on the door, and since Alice and Frank were right there dancing, she stopped and answered it. "Remus, you're back already? I thought you had to meet someone?"

When Remus walked in, James, Sirius and Lily all fainted to the ground. Merl happened to catch Lily before she hit, to save her a bump on the head, like James and Sirius would get.

When they were finally coherent, James once again stuck his foot in his mouth, "Where's Moony?"

"I'm right here James, standing right in front of you."

"Not you Remus, where's the wolf?"

"WHAT!" Alice yelled as she fell into Frank's arms.

Lily did her best damage control, "What James means, Alice, is where is the wolf cub Remus found and has been taking care of. You know Remus, kind to every living creature."

Alice turned back to Remus, "You have a wolf cub?"

"Now anymore, I released it tonight. Thanks to Merl. He found a wolf pack and took me to it. They accepted the cub with no problem." Merl looked to Lily and the look told Lily to wait until they were alone for an explanation. She just slightly nodded her head.

The small party only lasted another hour and broke up with Lily and her companions thanking Alice for her hospitality. Once they were home, both Remus and Merl were hit with a barrage of questions that lasted for ten minutes. Finally Remus stopped them with a waiving of his hand. "Please just give us a chance to explain. Merl, you may have to help me with this. When I left the party, I didn't know I had a following. Merl somehow trailed me to my safety point and sat down with me to talk. I don't know how he knew of my ailment, but I am glad he did. It seems him and Lily worked on a potion for me at school, and as you can see, it worked perfectly, although I am glad I only had to got through it once. It felt like it was ripping something from my body. I guess if you think about it, it was. It ripped the wolf right out of me. What took about ten minutes, felt like it took all night. But in the end, I regained my awareness and my true self. The amazing thing about it is, Professor Dumbledore provided him with the material for research. Lily provided the ingredients and the help to brew it. It was Merl's dedication that brought it about. I properly thanked Merl and would do so with Lily, if it wouldn't get me in trouble with a certain someone." James just pushed him into Lily where Remus caught her before she fell and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

Lily would not let that pass as a proper thank you, "Is that the best you can do for all we did for you Lupin. Hell, I get more thanks from Sirius when I cut his hair."

Not one to pass on a request, Remus pulled Lily in for a better kiss, one she would never forget. Lily even closed her eyes for the kiss, and if she had kept them open, she would have seen James and Sirius cheering Remus on as the kiss continued. James was not jealous of any of the men standing around him. He knew they would give their life for either of them to ensure their safety. As for the kiss, Remus had just been given a second chance to live life on his own. He would never have to worry about what he was like twelve times a year. The kiss was not serious, but it was heart felt and well deserved on Lily's part. James just hoped it wasn't how Merl was thanked.

Lily had never been kissed like that before, and it had her head spinning. She always liked Remus, but never thought of him in a romantic relationship, but after the kiss, some lucky lady was going to get herself a gentleman and a wonderful life mate. She knew it would never be her, because of the friendship between Remus and James, but maybe Remus could teach James some of his skills, like that kiss he just gave her.

Finally, Christmas morning arrived and Merl woke up to the smell of food cooking, and he made his way downstairs to find Lily in the kitchen by herself. He didn't bother asking, and just stepped in and began to help. He brought the dishes out and the tableware. He saw the bread out for toast and started making it. He brought the butter out and used a spell to soften it so that it would spread easier. Then he was answering a question that Lily asked, "Why did you give Professor Dumbledore credit for your own creation, Merl?"

"How could I tell Remus I did it, when I am only suppose to be 16. I am not suppose to be that smart to create a cure for a werewolf. Lily, this is why I need your help to safeguard my true being. I have never had so much trouble keeping my identity hidden from others. It is the first time I have told another who I truly am. I told you once before that I may even tell Remus, but I don't know if I can. Don't get me wrong, Lily, I know I can trust him with the secret, but the more people that know, the easier it becomes for others to find out."

"I know Merl. I love the fact it was me you chose to share it with, and for that I will always be grateful. As for telling Remus, that is your choice, but do you really think it will benefit you by doing so. I mean, why do you have to tell someone else?"

"I don't really, but Remus and Severus were my first two friends. But it was you that brought me around to the need to share my secret. It will probably get me in trouble with my superior back home, but I really needed help here, with all your holidays, and birthdays and anniversaries. How do you keep track of them all? Plus, and I have to be honest with you on this, There is more raw power here than I have ever seen before. It may be more than I can handle, so I will need help. If I can do it without letting others know, it would be most beneficial on my part. But if I have to, then I have to know who I can trust."

"Then I have to tell you something. Remus may not accept your plea of help, if it doesn't include James and Sirius. They are like brothers in everything they do except for a few things. Personal things, like female companionship and family matters. So if you go to him and ask for help, it would have to include James and Sirius. But, to let you know, they may act like children when it comes to fun, they are stout friends for those considered friends and would never betray them. That was why I couldn't understand their friendship with Peter. He was never like them. Thank goodness you made them see him as he truly was."

"I didn't do that Lily, Peter did. I ignored him and didn't wish to be around him. Remus felt it too, but when I left Peter the first time we met, it was then that Remus knew someone else felt it also and he needed to find out what it was that made me dislike Peter like I did."

They both turned around when they heard stomping on the stairs and saw James and Sirius come into the kitchen to see what was cooking. Then Remus followed them in and took a seat at the table. James and Sirius went to the food that was prepared and started to pick at it, getting their hands slapped by Lily and telling them to take a seat. They turned and started for the table, but Sirius quickly turned back and stole a banger rom the platter and began munching it down. James pretended he was sore because Sirius got away with some bounty and he got nothing. Then the food was brought to the table and Merl held the chair out for Lily so that she could sit, then he took his own seat.

When the meal was done, James and Remus did the clean up, while Sirius ran to the tree and began digging around for his presents. Lily and Merl stood there and watched a sixteen year old young man act like a five year old child. He was good enough to keep them wrapped until everyone was there.

Once James and Remus joined them, then the passing out of gifts took place and Sirius began to unwrap his. Lily had her stack in front of her, but had as yet touched them. She wanted to see the looks on the faces of James and Sirius when they opened the gifts from Merl. It was worth the wait as they both shot looks of death at their friend because of the books they got. Remus still got a present from Merl to unwrap, and received the same treatment from him as he found a box of flea powder in the wrapping. He just laughed at the gift, which Got James and Sirius laughing as well. Lily had already been laughing and then she wondered what she would find in her present. It was small compared to the others and when she shook it, it rattled. When it was unwrapped, she opened the box and stared at the contents. It was a beautiful necklace. She wanted Merl to put it on, but he waved her towards James. She went to James to ask for his help putting it on. James was only too happy to help.

Lily then went back to he other presents and began to unwrap them. She also found a card in her gifts and wondered who it was from. Once she opened it, she wondered here. It was from her sister Petunia and it was a card telling Lily of her upcoming marriage and if she would attend. Lily and Petunia were not on the best of terms with each other, and if Petunia wanted her there, it was because of the gift she would be bringing and nothing else. Petunia had always been a materialistic person. It would figure she would use her invitation as a gift. She showed the invitation to Merl and then to James. Merl didn't say anything, but James had to say something.

"You mean to tell me that after all the grief you gave here, she has the nerves to send you an invite to her wedding? Is she expecting you to bring her a wedding gift? If so, then you should oblige her with one of our pranks. Sirius and I would only be too happy to present you with one. How about our hippity hop frog cake? Or our shrinking girdle? We even have a cologne that only smells good to the wearer. To everyone else, it stinks so bad they have to leave."

Lily didn't think much of James' ideas until the cologne was mentioned. Then she thought better of it. It was going to be a special day for Petunia, and she didn't want to spoil it for her. Maybe later.

Christmas had been a day of ups and downs for the group, but mostly it was a good day for them all. When Severus and Narcissa came over, and they explained the gifts they got from Merl, they all shared a laugh when the rest shared what they got from him. Lily still didn't know why she was so lucky to get a sensible gift from him. She hoped he wasn't having feelings about her.

The rest of the Holidays went by quickly after that and soon it was time to head back to Hogwarts and finish their sixth year. Lily finally got the chance to talk to Merl about her gift, and Merl just told her, "I tried very hard to find something for you like I did for the rest, but I couldn't give you the same thing I gave Narcissa, and nothing funny could be found about your personality. I looked everywhere to find you something, but had no luck. So, I had to find you something boring, or you would go without."

"You bought me something boring? I love this necklace, why would I call it boring?"

"It didn't bring a laugh like everyone elses. They really enjoyed what I gave them, and you didn't say anything about what I got you, so I assumed it was boring."

Now Lily laughed, "You purposely got gag gifts for everyone for Christmas? Why on earth did you do that?"

"This entire year I have been listening to all of you and how good it felt to make people laugh. Since Christmas is all about having a good time with family and friends, I thought it meant a funny good time, not a serious good time. Did I do wrong?"

"No Merl, you were perfect. I just wondered why mine was so different, that's all. Oh look, her come James, Remus and Sirius. I wonder what they have planned for the rest of the year. I hope they don't mess up and get in trouble again. With just a year and a half left, they can't afford to be on the bad side of Professor McGonagal. I don't know how Sirius has avoided being suspended or kicked out of school. Poor Remus didn't know what he was getting into when he joined up with them."

"No, Lily, I think he knew exactly what he was getting into. A friendship that would last him a life time. I imagine it was tough for him to, make friends before he started school. Now he has more friends than he ever imagined. Minus Peter of course. Now I wonder if they are going to try and get Remus to become an animagus. They may try to get me to become one, which would shock them to know I am already one. Well, actually I am many. I can change into anything I wish to. Not having a skeleton makes things a bit easier for me." this is when the rest of the group joined them. They just caught the tail end of Merl's talk.

"What was this about a skeleton. Halloween is long gone, so why are you still talking about it?" Sirius asked.

"I wasn't talking about Halloween, I was talking about my stuffed Mongoose and Cobra. They are easier to handle when you stuff them and they have no skeleton." Merl matter of factly answered.

Sirius made the ugliest face ever when he asked, "Who the hell asked about your Stuffed Mongoose and Cobra, and why should they even care?"

Lily came back with, "We were just talking about our strangest gifts we ever got. I told Merl that Petunia's gift was so weird, but so Petunia."

The trip got them meeting up with Alice and Frank, who made it official as to them going together. Severus and Narcissa made the same commitment. Lily saw how happy he was when he talked about her, and she felt so happy for them both, but especially for Severus. She was just what he needed.

Sirius tried talking to Marlene, but she didn't want anything to do with him. She told him she was through dating children. When he decided to grow up, to come see her then. Marlene was one of four girls to not date Sirius while he was at school. Lily, Alice and Dorcas were the others. The rest either dated him or were family. It may have only been one date, but it was enough to get to know him. In most cases, that was enough to tell them a second wouldn't be necessary.

Once they were back at school, Merl asked Lily to cover for him as he needed to talk to the Headmaster. Merl left via the main door and circled around by the library to get to the stair case. He knew Albus was in the main hall and it gave him a chance to talk to the hat one more time. It wouldn't take long as he just needed to ask it one question.

Once again the Gargoyle moved for the old man that approached it, allowing him access to the Headmaster's chambers. He knew he shouldn't let him through, but there was something about the old man that told him it was alright.

Merlin went right to the hat when he entered the chamber and sat down with it. "So you need to ask me something do you?"

"Yes, I need to know how much Albus knows about the Horcruxes of Voldemort?"

"First off, you must know his real name is Tom Riddle, not Voldemort. The rest you already know. He was truthful with you about the number, and what he thought they might be. He keeps much to himself, but he is a good man. What he told you about why he doesn't kill, is also the truth. He has talked to Ms. Bones and Mr. Moody about taking over as Head of the Order of the Phoenix. They would speak of it, should it become necessary to start the group back up."

"Thank you for telling me all this. It makes it easier for me to trust him now. I will be back soon to talk to him and make plans to help him hunt down these objects and destroy them. Until then, enjoy your vacation."

"Is that what you call it? I could have picked a better location for it."

Merl was laughing as he left the chamber.


	6. Chapter 6

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Six

The last half of the school year went by quickly and now every one was looking forward to the summer hols. It wasn't a quiet one for Merl, as he started the search with Albus for the Horcruxes. He found the Diadem in the come and go room by accident. He asked his friends to help him after he had a chat with Albus about their locations. Albus was sure that one was hidden in the school, but had no idea where. He told Lily the real reason, but to the rest he told them he was looking for something for Professor Dumbledore that belonged to one of the founders.

Lily and Alice took the lower levels. James and Sirius and Remus the next two. Severus took Level five and Narcissa took level six. That left level seven for Merl. He heard from Lily and Alice that they didn't find anything and Remus passed on the same information. He hadn't heard from the others as yet. He was having the same luck as Lily, Alice and Remus. Remus decided to join Merl and help him with his search. He joined him as he was searching the last corridor.

Before they started, they got word from James and Sirius, upsetting them with a negative result. Once Remus and Merl finished the last corridor, Severus and Narcissa passed on their negative results.

Standing in front of the Dancing witches and the Fool Knight, they walked back and forth wondering where it could be hidden. Merl kept walking while Remus stopped when he saw the wall to their right begin to show an outline of a door in the once solid wall. He stopped Merl and turned him towards the wall. They approached it and turned the knob to see if the door would open. When it did, they entered slowly, not knowing what was on the other side. What they saw was a massive amount of things left behind by prior students and Professors.

They decided to split up and walk through the huge mess and see what they could find. For two hours they searched until Remus yelled out to Merl that he found it. Merl began to run through the maze of items, looking for Remus. "Where are you Remus? Call out so I can locate you."

"I'm over here by the window in the far right corner of the room."

Knowing the direction that Remus took, he headed to where he said. Five minutes later he found him standing before a huge cabinet with glass doors.

As he walked up to Remus, he saw what Remus found and from the feeling he got from the item, it was definitely a dark object. The doors to the cabinet were also spelled to keep people out. Remus couldn't get them open. Merl felt the magic used to keep them closed and began to use his own magic to get them open. It took a minute, but they finally did open and Remus was ready to grab the Diadem, when Merl stopped him. "Don't touch it Remus, it is cursed to hurt the one who tried to remove it. I have a better idea." and Merl went to the back of the cabinet and using magic, he caused it to fall forward, spilling all of it's contents onto the ground. He cushioned the case to prevent it from breaking. He then put it back up the same way, without the contents.

Merl then found a box to put it in and used a board to push it into the box. He put the lid on the box and picked it up. Then he turned to Remus and took a deep breath. "Remus, I have to get this to Professor Dumbledore, but I have to do it as someone else. Since I was thinking of telling you anyway, now would be as good a time as ever. Just this one thing for now though, if you don't mind waiting for a full explanation."

"Why not tell us all? You have made good friends with Lily and she should know at least. James and Sirius would never say anything to anyone. Why am I the only one you will be telling?"

"You aren't the only one. Like you said, I have made good friends with Lily. She already knows what I am."

"What you are? What does that mean? Are you playing a game with us Merl? Because if you are, the others will be pretty upset with you. Unless it is a good joke you're playing."

"It's no joke Remus. Here let me show you and then you can decide." and Merl changed into Merlin.

Remus just did something similar by changing into another person. "There is nothing spectacular about that Merl." it was still Remus' voice he used.

When Merl answered him it was with another voice. One of an old man. "What you did was a glamor spell Remus. I can do that as well. What I did was to grow old. What you see before you is my 150 year old self. I have become Merlin. It is who I am."

"I KNEW IT! For some reason I suspected you weren't who you said you were. But why keep it from us?"

"This is where I ask you to wait until I have done what I have to do. Can you wait until later this evening to hear me out?"

"What is it you have to do?"

"I have to take this to Albus and then we have to destroy it. He doesn't know me as Merl. He knows me as Merlin. It has to stay this way. He must not know who I am for now. Maybe later, but for right now, no."

Remus knew what was happening, "You don't trust him either, do you? I mean not entirely?"

"No, that's not why. He is a great man, but he only knows his way, and no one elses. I am trying to show him his way is not the only way to handle things. I promise to tell you everything later, but right now I want to rid myself of this cursed item. It hurts me to even be around it. You don't feel it as deeply as I do."

"OK, but you promise to tell me everything later. Right?"

"You can have Lily there with you to make sure I tell you everything.."

"Alright, until later tonight then." and before he could ask another question, Merl was gone. Remus had often heard you couldn't Apparate within the school grounds, yet Merlin had just done it. Remus shook his head and left the strange room he was in, but would remember it and how they entered it.

Merlin appeared before the Gargoyle and waved his hand causing it to move aside for him to enter. He was on the steps making his way up when the door opened up above and Albus was standing there waiting for him. Merlin didn't cloud the minds of the portraits this time.

"Have you found what we were looking for, Merlin?"

"Of course I have. Didn't you think I would? Don't you have faith in an old man?"

"As you can plainly see, I am an old man, yet I couldn't find it? Did you have the help you said you would?"

"First off, you are a mere child compared to me. You do know how old I am? As for your second remark, I did have the help I asked for. They owed me a favor and it paid off with dividends. Now, what say we dispose of this thing so we can get on with the rest of the school year. I will see you this summer to continue our search." and Albus used the Fyend Fire to destroy the Horcrux within the Diadem.

However, neither of them knew that it would be felt by Tom when they did it. It caused him to collapse from losing something that was precious to him. When he recovered, he felt weaker than he did before his collapse. He knew then that someone had found and destroyed one of his treasures. Now he had to protect those he left. He didn't want to keep them close, and didn't wish to let his followers know what they were by over protecting them.

He called Peter to him and told him he needed something done that only he could do. He had to retrieve some items he had hidden because of their worth and then hide them in a different spot.

Peter took this as a show of respect from his lord and answered proudly, "Of course My Lord. Do you know where you wish them to be hidden?"

"FOOL! I told you to hide them. I don't want to know where you hide them. Not until I ask for their location."

"Of course My Lord. Forgive my stupidity. I shall do as you ask. Where might I find these items?" and he was given their location. Not knowing how to Apporate, he had to use conventional methods and it would take longer. He didn't know how long it would take so he decided to leave school for good and serve his Lord. He didn't feel like losing one year would hurt him any.

He sent a letter to the Headmaster telling him his plans for not returning because of the injustice done him with his suspension. When Albus received the letter, he called James, Sirius and Remus to his office and explain the situation to them. Their reaction was not at all what he expected. Rather than complain, they just sat there like nothing had happened.

"Doesn't this bother you three?"

Remus was the one to answer, "Why should it Professor? He was the one to start a fight with our friend. He did it out of jealousy and revenge. He knew Merl was stronger than him yet, he tried to fight him anyway. Then when he tried to harm Lily, he lost any friendship we shared with him."

"I see what you mean. So even if he came back, you would not have any thing to do with him.?"

Sirius did not want to stay quiet while Remus spoke for them, "I would rather see Wormtail rotting in a cell than see him before me trying to be our friend once again. He is no longer a..."

James shut Sirius up before he exposed them to the Headmaster. "I agree sir, Peter is no longer a friend to us. He has shown no loyalty to us by what he did. It will also give us time to do our own work and not have to worry about helping him pass."

"Very well then,You are all dismissed. When you see Miss Evans, tell her I wish to speak to her about Mr. Pettigrew."

James explained her feelings toward the subject. "I will pass on your message sir, but don't expect her to respond. Lily does not care for Peter right now and probably never will again. It was not just the attempt to hurt her. He changed since last year and not for the better. I don't know why he changed, but all I can say is I am glad to be rid of him."

"Thank you for that Mr. Potter. If I don't hear from Miss Evans, I will assume she isn't interested in talking about Mr. Pettigrew. That will be all gentlemen."

Once they were clear of the entry way, they ran back to class and report to Lily and Merl what just happened.

They had to wait until the class was over before they could pass on the information and Lily's reaction was just as they expected. "I knew it. He is doing something for Voldemort and can't return because of it. I wonder what it is?"

Merl's was not what they expected at all, "Shite, now we have to keep our eye out for the rat. He will be back to school to spy on someone, and since he is not coming back as a student, he will not be expected. He knows all your secrets and will use them to gain access. If he was here as a student, we could keep an eye on him. I don't think he will try anything this year though as he is probably trying to impress his master. Voldemort will use him next school year to gain something Voldemort can use."

Remus thought about what Merl just said and came up with, "Do you think it will be Professor Dumbledore he will be spying on?"

"It could be. Now it is even more important than ever that he does what I asked him to do."

This surprised James, Sirius and Remus. "What do you mean by that Merl?" James asked. Sirius continued the question with another one.

"When did you and the Professor talk, Merl"

Since they were in the main hall, he answered, "Can we talk about this later? This is neither the time or the place to talk. Remus and Lily were going to be told later, now it looks like I have to tell you all. And before you begin to ask more questions, just remember who I made friends with first."

That shut up James and Sirius. They knew Lily was his first friend followed soon by Remus. Plus what he did for Remus made them more than just friends. Remus owed him for curing his ailment. Lily had helped him with the cure so that was something else they had to consider. Still though, that was seven months past and they had become good friends as well. James and Sirius were looking forward to what he had to tell them. If it had to do with the Headmaster, then it had to be serious.

That evening Merl and Remus led them all to the seventh floor and explained how they found the room. Once again it appeared from out of nowhere and they entered the mess within. Lily looked at all the piles of what she called junk, while James and Sirius looked at it like it was treasure. Sirius ran to the first pile and started pulling out trunks and boxes. It was all fairly new stuff, and not worth much. He left that pile and went further into the room to look.

He didn't get far when he felt something grab him from behind and was being pulled back to his friends. Merl got his attention. "Sirius, Let me have my say before you go exploring. Hopefully it won't take long, as long as there are not many questions. As Lily and Remus already know, my real name is Merlin. Yes Sirius, the one from history. Let me show you my true form." and with a flash, there before them stood an old man with a long white beard. "This is how I look as Merlin. To further complicate things, I am here for a reason, and that is to stop Dumbledore from letting innocent people die. He is fighting a war but losing it badly. He is keeping his followers from killing Death Eaters while they themselves die because of it."

The first question came from Lily. "Why do they continue to fight if they are being killed and they can't retaliate in the same manner? It sounds like they are being used as sheep sent to the slaughter."

"That was my sentiment exactly, Lily. How can you win a war when the only people being killed were your own. I have asked him to give up his leadership position to someone who will not hold back. He said that a Miss Bones or a Mr. Moody should take up the role as leader. He has agreed that what he is doing is wrong, but he couldn't ask someone to kill when it could hurt them spiritually. I told them it was better dead in spirit then in life. There is no coming back from the second choice."

Merl stopped there for a moment to think on how far he should go with telling the others. He trusted Lily and Remus completely. He wasn't quite sure about James and Sirius. He trusted them but they have yet to prove their faithfulness. Merl turned to Lily, and he saw her whispering to Remus. She then looked to Merlin and she nodded her head yes. If Remus trusted them, then so should Merlin.

"OK, now this is the one that will have you rethinking about being friends with me. I have shown you my Earthly forms. You have not seen my one true form. Lily has and fainted from seeing it."

"If Lily fainted, then I am not sure I want to see it. Just tell us what it is you are." Remus didn't wish to insult Merlin by doing something silly or girlie.

Merlin turned to james and Sirius and they agreed with Remus. "OK then, let me just say that I was not born here on Earth. I come from a system so far away that with your technology, it would take four lifetimes to reach it. I come from a race that helps other races that are facing an evil so terrible that it could ruin their continued existence. I am here to train the hero that will either defeat Voldemort, or die trying. I must tell you that he is not yet born. Don't ask me who it will be or who the parents are, as I may be wrong in who is chosen as this warrior."

"Will you be chosing who it is?" James asked.

"No, that will be Voldemort's choice. I say that because, who ever he choses may be wrong."

"How could it be wrong if Voldemort does the chosing? Doesn't he know who it will be already?"

"No James, as he doesn't even know he has to chose one as yet. Please don't ask me to explain that as there are many possibilities to who it could be. I have an idea who it will be, but I don't wish to speculate on it."

Lily then asked, "How will you know who it is if he or she isn't born yet?"

Once again, I can't say how I will know as the parents are not yet together."

Lily was insistent in her questioning, "What happens if they don't get together?"

"Then someone else will be the warrior."

Everyone turned to Remus when he passed out. Only one person knew why he passed out. Merlin guessed that Remus knew who he was talking about. He would have to keep him out until he could talk to him about his feelings. He and Sirius picked him up and carried him to the hospital wing. Merlin had to stun him twice during the trip to keep him quiet.

Lily thought it was because Remus was not yet use to going through a full moon and not changing.

James thought it was because Remus ill because of his immunities were now on their own because he could no longer change to Moony.

Sirius just thought he did a Lily and passed out because of what Merlin just admitted to them.

Madam Pomfrey was sitting in her office when she saw the group walk in carrying someone. She rushed out to see what happened. She knew of Remus' problem and hoped it wasn't because of it. She had Merlin and Sirius lay him on the first cot and checked his vitals and found he was stunned. She looked at the group and was ready to ask when Merlin told her, "We were talking when Remus just passed out. I had to stun him in order to keep him from panicking while we carried him."

"I see. How long has he been out?"

"Ten minutes."

"Very well, you may all leave now if there is nothing else you wish to tell me."

Lily and Merlin asked if they could stay behind. James and Sirius complained that they should stay as well. Madam Pomfrey let just one stay and that was Merlin as he was the one who stunned him. She wished to know the real reason he was stunned. Lily made Merlin promise her he would let her know when there was a change. The three walked out, and then Merlin took a seat next to his cot and waited for Madam Pomfrey to ask her question.

"I take it you know what I am going to ask you?"

"Yes, I do. It was to keep Remus quiet. I think he knows something I don't wish anyone else to know, including yourself. It could mean something that will stop two people from getting together. Someone who should be together."

"Then I will step back into my office while you revive him and ask your question. Then call me back in so I may examine him before I release him."

"Thank you Madam, for understanding."

"I didn't say I understood anything. I may never understand what is going on. Professor Dumbledore has told me about you though and to expect to see you sometime in the future. I wasn't expecting it this soon."

As soon as she was in her office, Merlin woke Remus up, and got the reaction he expected, "James and Lily are who you are talking about, isn't it?"

"Take it easy Remus. I knew you guessed correctly. I don't know how Lily missed it. Remus, you can't let them know it is their son I have to train. If you do, and they decide to not get married, my entire mission has failed and I will have to return home. There will be no one left to defeat Voldemort. The one he choses will fail and Voldemort will be victorious. I also know who he will chose if James and Lily's son is not born. Now hear me out. Even if the other is chosen, It will still be James and Lily's son who will defeat him. You must help me in this Remus. Lily must never know this, and Her and James must marry."

"How in the hell are they supposed to marry when Lily barely puts up with him. You must see something that I don't."

"Remus, Lily and I have been playing like we like each other, and James doesn't even see it. I have tried to get him to react to our little play and it is like he doesn't care. We have to do something to get her and him together. But we can't be too obvious. Just like you saw it, Lily may see it also and run away. Maybe we can Sirius to help us out."

Remus slapped his head with his palm. "You are kidding me, right? Sirius help us with getting Lily to love James is the stupidest idea I ever heard. Do you see the girls flocking around Sirius? No. Do you know why? Because he doesn't know what a relationship is. To him if he dates a girl two days straight, he is in a relationship. You hear how he feels about Marlene, yet do you see her sitting by his side?"

"He can't be that bad, Remus. He must know something about love if he keeps trying to find it."

"You say you are not from this world, right? I bet you could have a girlfriend easier than Sirius could. As a matter of fact, I bet you could get a date with Marlene before Sirius does, if you try."

"But I'm not looking for a date Remus. I'm trying to set James and Lily up. Why would I want to date someone I hardly know? Wait, that may work. Lily and Marlene are friends, aren't they?"

"About as close as Lily and Alice are. Why?"

"Maybe I could get Marlene to talk some sense into Lily about James. I could see if she would date me, then try to get Lily and James to join us on a double date."

"Not on the first date, Merl. You need to get to know her before you set up a double date. This summer would be the best time to try it, after about three dates, if Marlene can stand you for that long."

Merl didn't take this too well. "What do you mean if she can stand me for that long? I'm not that bad, am I?"

"You're friends with Sirius, does that tell you anything?"

"OK, then you ask her out. You know her better than me anyway. It may just get Sirius Serious about her if he sees her out with one of his best friends. It should be easier for you to get her to agree with a double date. What do you say, Remus?"

"NO! Absolutely not. Sirius is my best friend, and I would never do that to him. Just like I didn't do it to James."

"Huh?"

"Shite, I promised Lily I'd never say anything to anyone."

"What did you do Remus, kiss Lily and ask her out?"

Remus mumbled something that Merl couldn't make out, "Repeat that last remark if you don't mind, I didn't quite catch it."

"I said something like that. Crap! OK, after our fourth year, Lily was upset over what Severus called her. I mean really upset, and James didn't have a clue how to comfort her, so I took it upon myself to do it. When James and Sirius went to bed, Lily was still sitting on the sofa in our main room. I sta beside her and she put her head on my chest and cried for the longest time. She needed someone to show her what she was called was wrong and not at all what she was. I held her in my arms and rubbed her back. Finally her tears began to subside and she looked up at me to thank me. When she did, I lost it. She has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. I couldn't help myself. I leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. The thing is, Lily didn't break it off, so I continued it. Once we did break it off, I did the one thing I will always regret. I kissed her again and she kissed me back. When I heard a noise coming from above, I broke it off and pulled away from Lily. Just in time as it was Sirius coming down to see what happened to me. I told him Lily and I were talking and I would be right up. I apologized to Lily and she smiled and asked me why. I told her she knew why and left it at that. She told me to never tell anyone and she would do the same."

"So, you like Lily?"

"Yes, and you can't tell me you don't. I don't care where you came from, you still have feelings about who you are with, where ever you go. You may be acting with her, but tell me truthfully you don't care for her?"

"It would be a lie if I did, but unlike you, I can't do anything about it. If you liked her, why didn't you talk to James and Lily about it?"

"And lose the only friends I ever had? Not only would I lose James and Sirius, I would lose Lily as well. I could never make a commitment with her in my condition. Even though you and Lily cured me. I still can't do that to James, as she is the only one he shown any real interest in."

"Then it is all the more reason to get them together. But the start of next school year they must be at least interested in one and other. We know james is interested and we must get Lily that way as well."

"It's going to take a lot of work."

"I don't think it will be that much. We just have to show her that he has changed and isn't the same eleven year old kid when they first met."


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Seven

Somehow during the train's arrival in London and the retrieval of their luggage, the Marauders and Lily lost their friend Merl to the crowd. Even his Trunk was missing.

They searched the train and the station before giving up 15 minutes later. James and Sirius talked with Severus and Narcissa and got them to stay at the Manor since they had nowhere else to go. Severus didn't think Spinner's End was a safe place for them to be. Black Manor was a possibility, but since Sirius couldn't stand being there, Narcissa thought she may not accept it either. She remembered what it was like when she was growing up and didn't feel comfortable with it then. It could only have gotten worse with the family gone and Kreacher was the only person there. He was a sour old house elf that didn't get along with anyone. Regulus would be there if he hadn't gone missing this year. No one knew where or why he left for. Sirius knew what Reg was doing, and didn't see eye to eye with him. When Reg came up missing, Sirius did contact Kreacher to see if Reg was there. Kreacher was being his normal self and refused to talk to Sirius.

Sirius had a feeling he would never see Regulus any more. With the connections he was making, and the people he was running around with, it could only lead to trouble, and he probably found it.

When they arrived at Potter Manor and rid themselves of their trunks, the group met back in the kitchen and had some butter beers and relaxed before they started making plans for the summer. However, Severus asked Lily if he could see her alone for a moment and she agreed. She took him to the study, where Lily shut the door and sat across from Severus. "What's the problem Sev?"

"There's no problem Lil's, I just need your opinion on something and a request."

She saw the start of a smile on Sev's face and knew what he was about to say. To save him the embarrassment, "You're going to ask her aren't you Sev?"

"I never could hide anything from you Lil's. Yes, but first comes my request." but before he could make it, Lily excused herself for just a few minutes as she had to use the Loo. She made it back as promised and sat back down. Sev tried to lighten the mood by saying,"Feel better now Lily?"

"Much better thank you. Now before you start, I would like to ask you a favor." and she reached in her pocket of her dress and pulled out a small box. "Severus, I was wondering if you would use my mother's Engagement Ring for your proposal? It isn't much, as mum liked the simple things in life. Not that dad couldn't afford better, but it was what she wanted."

Lily could only remember one other time when she saw Severus cry and that was when his mum died. He was crying now. "How did you know what I was going to ask you Lil's?"

"You were going to ask me for my mother's ring?"

Now he was laughing at his best friend. "How do you manage to do that? You make me cry with your sweetness then make me laugh with your craziness. You know what I was going to ask for and instead you offered me an alternative. Then you try to hide it by making me look like an idiot."

Lily laughed out her response, "You notice I didn't have to try too hard to do it. You are so easy Sev. Almost as easy as Sirius or James. But seriously..." and she looked around for the idiot she just mentioned. He always seemed to be around when someone said his name, even if they were not saying his name. "Thank goodness he didn't hear it. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, yes I knew what you were going to ask, but I made it simple for you. It is hard to ask for something from a friend, especially money or property. I know your situation Severus, and so does James. James would have given you the money, but he probably would never let you forget it. Not by insulting you, but rubbing it in when he needed some thing from you. The same goes for Sirius. That's why Remus never asks for anything, and he is in as bad a shape financial wise as you."

"You make it sound like Remus and I are charity cases with ethics. However, it does seem that we are in need of help right at the moment. I appreciate everything you do for us, Lily. Narcissa does as well. As for James and Sirius, I doubt I will ever be asking them for anything, if it means I have to put up with them for the rest of my life."

It's a good practice to follow, but never say never. You do know that you are closer to them than you were a year ago. Also, Narcissa would have been in a compromising position if Merl hadn't seen something you didn't. How is it he saw you and Narcissa together and you never did? I also want to know where he is right now and what he is doing."

"Do you mind telling me where that came from and why you are so worried about him? Are you falling for him Lils?"

"No, I'm not falling for him. It just so happens he is a very close friend. You saw what he did for Remus on Christmas. "

"I think you had something to do with that, if I remember correctly."

"Do you really think he needed my help with the serum? Come off it Sev, the guy is a genius. He doesn't need anyones help. He did it because he didn't want to take full credit. At the time you and I were the only ones he knew."

"Then why didn't he ask me to help?"

"With the history you and the Marauders had, I don't blame him for not asking you. Not only that, but we were in the same house so it was easier for us to communicate. We also had an agreement going on, that I don't wish to discuss."

"Do you like him?"

"Of course I like him, but not in the way you are thinking right now." Lily turned around to make sure they were still alone, then continued. "OK, Merl and I had an agreement to try and make James jealous. For some reason he thinks James and I should be together. I must admit that James has shown me he has grown more mature this past year and I do like what I see, but he has to show me more. He has to quit listening to Sirius and his stupid ideas. Not all of them, just the really stupid ones. Sirius does come up with some unbelievably stupid ones. If James can stay away from those, I may agree with going on a date with him."

"Do you think he can stay away from them? Him and Sirius are very close. Almost like brothers, which reminds me, did he ever hear anything about Regulus?"

"No, and I think it really does get to him, but he refuses to let his feelings out about them. I think he feels Regulus is no longer with us and I hope he is wrong"

"So do I Lily. I didn't know Regulus that well, but there was something about him that changed during the beginning of the year and he was beginning to feel different about his commitment."

"I certainly hope he is alright. I think it would hurt Sirius deeply if anything happened to Regulus. They were close before they came to school. When they separated during the sorting, things changed for the worse. Regulus began to believe his family's opinion on blood status."

"That is what I think changed about him. He didn't seem as strong in this as when he first started."

Merlin-}

What Lily and Severus were talking about, Merlin was doing something about it. He knew Regulus went missing during the school year and he wished to know why, and where he was. He began his search with Black Manor. He knew it was impossible to Apporate into the home, and Floo travel was by acceptance only, but he was not a normal wizard. He traveled the same way an elf did, so he passed right through any safeguards. He landed in the hallway of the dark home. He saw a huge portrait at the end of the hall of an old lady. She opened her mouth as if ready to scream and Merlin silenced her with a wave of his hand. He then began a search of the Manor, starting on the first floor. In the second room he entered, he felt it right away. Dark Magic was kept somewhere in the room.

His feelings were rewarded when he found a Locket in the hutch of the dining room. He didn't touch it for fear of setting off an alarm of some kind. He took a knife from the silverware tray in a drawer and used it to take the Locket out of the hutch and into a charmed bag that cancelled out any magic it may have. It was something he came up with on his own.

He didn't stop his search there though. He searched the upper levels of the Manor, and on the third level he found a room with the initials R.A.B. Scratched into the wood of the frame. In the room he found paper work Regulus used on his idea of Voldemort's power and longevity. His thoughts were along the same line as Dumbledore's. He even gave his thoughts on their locations. He also found a letter written by Regulus to his brother, explaining his actions and why they changed. Merlin didn't want to read it, but not knowing what it was, and he was looking for information, he read it. He knew that Sirius had to read it as well.

Merlin put all the information in his pocket and was ready to leave when he heard footsteps coming towards the door. He barely got out of there before the door opened, and a house elf entered. Merlin never knew who entered and Kreacher never knew the Manor had been invaded.

Merl skipped any walking by landing in the Headmasters office, only to find it empty. He was going to sit and wait, but something caught his attention. It was the large bird sitting on the pedestal, singing a song. It should have told Merlin something, but the song was beautiful and he just listened.

The song was intended as a warning to Albus that there was someone in his office. He was back in short order to handle the situation. When he entered, he was surprised to find Merlin standing by the resting place of Fawkes.

"I see you have taken a liking to Fawkes. I trust you know what he is?"

"A Scottish Flaming Phoenix if I'm not mistaken. A very good alarm system. His song could lull a normal person to sleep."

"That was his intention. He just didn't know who he was dealing with. Now, to what do I owe this visit? It does seem very early to be starting our hunt."

"It's never too early to end evil. I have indeed began my search, and I came up with this." Merlin took the pouch from his pocket and dumped it's contents on the desk.

Albus looked down on the locket and then up at Merlin. Then back down to the Locket and back up. "How did you find one so quickly? I have been searching since I figured out what Tom was doing."

"I do admit I was lucky with this one. I was looking into the disappearance of Regulus Black, starting at Black Manor. I entered the dining room and felt dark magic emanating from somewhere in it. I found this in a hutch. I found these in his room." and he pulled all but the letter to Sirius, from his pocket.

"So, I wasn't alone in my beliefs. I wonder if Mr. Black was hiding it for Tom? Then when the evil it emitted started to get to him, he began to change his mind about joining up with the Death Eaters."

"I think he began to get these feelings last year, and found out what Tom did to ensure his existence. I don't think he was hiding it for Tom, but from Tom. I think he found out where it was hidden and went and retrieved it with someones help."

"No one would dare help him with a search for something that would incur the wrath of Lord Voldemort if he found out about it."

"I don't agree. Regulus had help from someone he trusted and he died somehow while getting it. I only say this because of the way I found it. If it had been Regulus that put it up, it would not be out in the open where anyone could find it. I think his help put it up and forgot about it."

"That seems awful careless for something that cost a life of a friend."

"It does at that, doesn't it. I still think Regulus is dead and his help hid it, but maybe the help didn't know the meaning of the item. Maybe he left it there to remember him by?"

This got Albus thinking, and then it hit him, "OF Course. We must get in touch with Sirius. I think I know who helped Regulus." and Albus went to the floo and reached Potter Manor.

Lily and Severus were still in their talk when the Floo call came through. "Professor Dumbledore. OK, what did the idiots do now? It must have been something they did before leaving? Do you need me to get James?"

She almost fell over when he began to laugh, "The idiots haven't done anything to my knowledge Miss Evans, and it is not James I wish to speak to." then the Headmaster became serious, "I'm afraid I must speak to Mr. Black about a very personal matter."

"I'll go get him Professor."

It took a few minutes, but Sirius walked into the room and went to the floo to see what he was wanted for. "You wished to see me Professor?"

"Yes Mr. Black. I was hoping you would be able to come through and talk to me about your brother."

Sirius was wondering when he would hear about Regulus. "I'll be right through Professor. Should I come alone?"

"It may not hurt to bring someone with you."

Lily asked Sirius if he wanted her to come through and he said yes, so the two went through to the Headmaster's office. They were both surprised to see Merlin sitting there, but were smart enough to not show too much surprise to let on they knew him. Lily asked, "I didn't know you had a visitor Professor. Are we disturbing you?"

"He is the reason I asked Sirius here. I hate to be the bearer of bad news Mr. Black, but I'm afraid we have reason to believe that your Brother Regulus is dead. We don't know where or how, but we think he died looking for something. Now we also think we know who went with him, and this is where we need your help. We think your house elf Kreacher went with Regulus to find this item."

"Why would you think it was Kreacher that Reg asked to help?"

"Because he needed help getting this item, and trust was a huge issue. We knew of the bond between Regulus and Kreacher. We knew because you didn't care who heard about it when you and your brother talked"

"So why do you feel I can help. Kreacher and I get along as well as cats and mice. He wants nothing to do with me and the feeling is mutual. I'll call him, but even if he answers the call, it doesn't mean it will be a pleasant visit, or a successful one."

Kreacher felt the call of his new master and hated the fact he had to answer it. It never went well when the two faced each other. Everything his family believed in, Sirius Black did not. However, he could not keep him waiting forever, so he went to get it over with in a hurry. "You wished to see me Most lowly of masters?"

"Yes I did Most Lowly of Servants. Now listen close and tell me everything you know about what I am going to say. Do you understand me, Kreacher?"

"Kreacher understands, but does not promise anything."

"You will this time. What do you know of Master Regulus' death?"

Sirius never saw Kreacher shake as much as he was shaking now. It was as if he was fighting hard not to answer, but it was his master's wish for him to tell the story his good master told him not to tell anyone. If he continued to shake like he was doing, it could hurt him.

Merlin saw this and went to the elf, "Kreacher, don't answer if it is going to hurt you. Nothing is worth the hurt it will subject you to. We only ask because we found the Locket he took. Can you tell us about it?"

Kreacher broke down at this saying, "I failed my Master's last wish, just like I failed him at the lake. I couldn't save him and now I cannot even destroy this item he asked me to. Kreacher is a bad house elf." his shaking was even getting worse.

"Kreacher, listen to me. If we help you to destroy it, will you talk to us?"

Kreacher stood up straight at this and looked at Merlin closely. Finally recognition set in, "You is the great wizard of the past, is you not? You have helped elves before. You is the great and kind Merlin."

Merlin smiled at the house elf, "Yes Kreacher, I am Merlin and I have helped out in the past, just like I will now. However, if I help you, then it is only fair that you help us."

"Kreacher will help the great wizard. Kreacher knows even if you fail, you tried your best to help."

"We will not fail, Kreacher, I promise. Albus, if you will please?" and he waved his hand over the Locket. Albus shot the flames at the locket and heard it scream as it's piece of soul died. Like the diadem, the locket was completely destroyed, but the Horcrux was no longer an issue.

Many kilometers away Lord Voldemort once again felt the pain of loss, and knew another of his treasures was gone. He had no idea which ones they were and who was doing it, but he felt sure it was Albus Dumbledore behind his loss. He was the only one with enough mentality to accomplish finding them and then destroying them. He fell to the ground when it happened, and this time he was surrounded by his followers. No one went to him to help as it would have been refused and may even suffer because of it. Lord Voldemort never needed anyone's help.

Kreacher saw the thing he wanted most for his Master Reggie, and he would help this group because it meant that much to him. "What does the great wizard need to know?"

"How and where did Regulus die?"

"He died so that Kreacher could escape with this Necklace. The shadow people in the lake took him under to die. Kreacher was in the boat Master Reggie pushed to the far shore to make Kreacher's escape. He only asked that I destroy the necklace. You have done that for Kreacher. The lake is underground, that Kreacher would have to show you."

"I don't think it will be necessary Kreacher. We just wanted to know where it happened so that we may go back and claim the body. But if the shadows took him, I am sure we will never find the body. Now, do you know of any other items like this that he found?"

"No Master Wizard, there were no more. We looked for months just to find this one and it was the first one we looked for."

Merlin picked up the ruined necklace and instead of putting it with the Diadem, he gave it to Kreacher for his help. Kreacher took it with tears in his eyes. It was the last thing he and his master did together and now it was his to cherish forever. He couldn't wear it, so he vanished it to it's previous resting spot and asked if there was anything else he could do.

Sirius was ready to tell him no, when Merlin stopped him. "Kreacher, did you and your master talk about the other items he was going to search for?"

"Oh yes sir, we did. Kreacher wasn't much help to his master, but it made Kreacher feel good that he was asked to join master in his talks."

"If we showed you the notes we found, could you explain some questions we have?"

"Kreacher could tell you what he knows."

The talk was not a long one, but it did get them answers to a few questions. Regulus had done quite a bit of research and his thoughts on some of the locations matched those of Albus. Only locations known alone by him were used. He did not feel safe with these because of this. His thoughts were, Voldemort feared that if Dumbledore learned of them, he would go to where he knew Voldemort would feel they were safe. Voldemort would use his own people to hide them, if he had someone he could trust. He currently didn't think there were any he could trust that much.

Merlin-}

Peter began his assignment with the Family Ring hidden beneath some floorboards. When he found the loose boards he pried them up and took the ring and placed it in his pocket. He went to put the boards back in their spot, when a burning sensation was felt against his leg. It got worse and his pocket began to smoke. He ripped his pocket off and the ring fell out. He kicked it towards the wall and it slipped into a mouse hole. He felt he had done what was asked of him, and went on to the next part.

What Peter didn't see was the ring didn't feel secure in it's current spot and returned to it's original location under the floor boards. It did not physically move, it sort of Apporated.

The next target was a cave off the west coast of England Southwest of Cornwall about 100 Kilometers. He was told not to drink the fluid in the bowl, but to take the cup given him by Lord Voldemort to drain it, but to save the fluid if possible. The trip would take another four days travel time. Muggle transportation was the slowest type travel he knew, but it was the only type he had access to. A Broom would have been much faster, but highly visible. So much so that Lord Voldemort forbid it's use to him. Travel by Muggle means meant he had to use a map and he wasn't the smartest person in the world when it came to reading them.

A normal person would have made the trip in a day. Peter got lost so many times that it more than tripled the length of the trip. Even after asking for directions he still managed to get lost by taking the wrong turn, or by missing the turn he needed to take.

When he finally found the cove he was looking for, he started the trip down to the cave and the wall of magic Voldemort put up. He used a dagger to make the cut on his hand and placed it on the wall for entry. When the wall disappeared, he entered and saw the cavern and the lake it held. In the middle of the lake was the small island and the basin sitting in the middle of it. He found the chain that held the small boat and magically pulled it up from the depths of the lake. What he didn't know was that this alerted the Inferie of his presence. Once he was in the boat and started the trip across, he saw the creatures swimming in the lake and began to panic. He made it to the island safely and pulled out the two cups he brought with him. He put the one he needed to drain the bowl and enlarged the one he would store the fluid in. He also pulled out the fake locket he would exchange for the real one. The entire chore took about fifteen minutes and Peter was glad to get it over with. He took the real locket and placed it in his pocket and got back in the boat and made the trip back to the main shore.

As he made the trip back across, he wondered why the creatures in the lake never attacked. He was happy they didn't though, and thought no more about it. It was too bad he didn't, because the Inferie were meant to protect the real Locket, and since it was no longer there, their service was done. Peter had taken the locket that Regulus had placed in the bowl.

He left the cave and decided to stop for the day and rest. He would begin his next task in a day or two.

Merlin-}

It seemed Albus was thinking opposite of Peter, as he was done with the Locket and now set his sights on the ring. Since he knew of Tom's background, he thought it was kept in the Riddle home because of the size of the home. With the Gaunt home being abandoned and so small, he didn't think it was a likely resting place for the ring.

However, Merlin felt differently and decided he would investigate it on his own soon. For now he would take some time and try to get Lily and James together. It was his biggest priority for the summer. He learned from Severus that she had seen a change in James, but it was not enough for her to change her attitude towards him. He still needed to grow up and follow his own path, rather than follow in Sirius' footsteps.

Merl knew the loss of the Horcruxes was affecting Tom in some way, and he hoped they were able to find them before he collected them and put them where no one could get them. If he knew Peter was out trying to gather them for just that reason, he would change his plans and go after him instead. What he didn't realize was Peter was so weak that he couldn't move a real Horcrux by himself. The Locket gave him a false sense of accomplishing his task.

In essence, Peter was giving the Light more time to find the objects and destroy them.

Now all Merl had to do was somehow get James to grow up and then he could continue on with his search. He didn't know which task would be greater.


	8. Chapter 8

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Eight

Merl felt he would need some help getting both Lily and James together so he went to the two people closest to Lily to get her to see where James had grown beyond what she wanted of him. Alice and Selena were those two people. They were always there for her when she had something to think about and had trouble getting to a decision.

What he didn't know was that they both felt it was not their right to help him do something they didn't think was right for her. They both saw James as a bad influence on her, and Sirius only added to James' problem about growing up. They both saw he was a bigger influence than Merl realized.

With this development, Merl had to seek help elsewhere. He went to Severus and he just laughed at him saying, "You really need help in another area if you think Lily and james are meant for each other, Merl. In case you haven't noticed, James and Sirius are right now thinking up new plans for next year's pranks. Even Remus wants nothing to do with it. Not that I blame him, mind you. It looks like another year of childish actions by the oldest little boys in Hogwarts. Seventeen year old infants. Sorry Merl, but I have to agree with Alice and Selena in this. James is a lost cause and it doesn't look like he cares if he ever changes."

Merl couldn't find anyone that would help him if he didn't explain why it was so important. He never saw so many people feel so strong about not seeing someone get together. Lily was just too important to them to not give in to Merl. James was too close to Sirius to give up on him.

So Merl decided to go another way. If he couldn't get James away from Sirius, then get Sirius away from James by finding him someone to get close to. So now he needed to get in touch with Marlene and see if he could get her interested in Sirius. He had to find out where she lived before he could visit her. It was not as easy as he thought it was going to be. James was just too immature right now for Lily.

Lily gave him her address and he transported himself to te safe spot she gave him and he walked to the address he was given. It was unfortunate that there was no one home. At least that was what he thought. He was about to step away when he heard a noise from inside and then he saw flashes of light inside. The lights he knew were spells being cast so he used his power and opened the door to total chaos.

Three people were lying on the floor and a fourth was fighting off two attackers. Two other people were standing over the three on the floor, watching what was going on when they saw Merl enter. They raised their wands towards him, but Merl was much faster and had the two down before they had a chance to fire on him. Merl then turned to the other two and Took one of them out and the fourth was now at a disadvantage with two against one.

Merl saw the one standing was Marlene and she looked like she was about ready to pass out. He didn't know if she was just tired or that she was hurt. He didn't take any chances and placed a shield in front of her and then he faced the final attacker. This one he didn't wish to hurt so he used a strong stunner on him and then he bound those that needed it. He turned to Marlene and saw her collapse against the wall and drop to the ground. He made sure she was alright before he went to the three he first saw on the ground. He didn't know them but assumed they were Marlene's family. If they were, then he was sorry for Marlene as they were all dead.

Merl decided to keep Marlene unconscious with a mild sedation spell and took the three attackers that still lived and brought them to the Ministry's DMLE. He told the Assistant what happened and she got the Aurors to take them to holding while she contacted the Director and explained Merl's story.

Merl returned to the McKinnons and helped Marlene to Hogwarts and Madam Pomfrey. He didn't wish to take her to St. Mungo's as it was too public. Now Merl had to explain it all again to both Madam Pomfrey and Albus. Albus was quick to respond to this information and went immediately to the Ministry to see the ones that committed this vile crime. Madam Pomfrey made Marlene as comfortable as possible then she went with Merl to see the others.

It was as Merl said, and the four people there were all dead. Three had been tortured to death and the fourth was because of a fall when he was stunned. He landed on a fire place poker that pierced his heart.

Merl took Pomfrey back to Hogwarts and then he went to Potter Manor. He had to tell Sirius and Lily about what happened and how it was he became involved. He never got that far, as Both Lily and Sirius went right to the Floo and asked for permission to enter, not caring why he was there.

Merl stayed behind to tell the rest about what went on. James and Remus were with Severus to get him a set of dress robes for his upcoming wedding. James was told of Lily's gift to Severus, and it made up his mind that he could do no less for his new friend. Remus went with him, but Sirius was still not quite friends with the Slytherin. This was the start of James growing up lesson. He learned that in order to be a man, you had to learn to forgive and forget the past. Sirius didn't see it that way.

Narcissa was also given money to find her own set of dress Robes with the help of Andromeda, Alice and Selena.

When they all returned to find Merl sitting in front of the Floo with a worried look on his face, they knew something bad had happened. When they were told what it was, James and Remus both left via the floo for Hogwarts. Merl explained to the rest what had happened.

This incident was the one that brought both James and Sirius to their senses. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Sirius did have strong feelings for Marlene and now she would need him to help her get through school and possibly even life itself. Since James had already started down the road, it was easy for him to see where life was not a joke anymore. He saw where he was needed to step up and become a man. Life was short enough without having to fight to keep what you have left. This was meant in a literal fashion, not figuratively. The McKinnons lost their fight, except for Marlene. Many others had also. He wanted to make sure his friends and even more so, Lily, survived. It was then he knew that he needed to show Lily he had grown and was ready to stand up and be a man. It was what she needed and he wanted to be that person.

He knew it would take some time, but hopefully by the end of the summer, she would notice the difference.

Remus had seen something change in his friends when they rushed out of the manor. A conviction to a cause that would lead to finally growing up mentally. He turned to Merl, "I believe your wish is going to come true, Merl. Perhaps even by the end of the summer. When friends become victims, it is time to draw the line. Sirius now has something to protect and James sees that he has also. Marlene should be in good hands now."

"I think so too Remus, but the cost to find this out is too much to bear. No one should have to die in order to see what needs to be done. Marlene is now without a family and to have to see Sirius as the best way to get help has to be hard for her, since she was so strong before this all happened."

"Look Merl, we didn't create this situation, and I know Marlene is hurting right now, but someone has to be there for her. Although Marlene and Lily were closer, I think Sirius is the one she needs right now. I know, he is still a child in the mind, but she will be helping him while he is helping her. It works both ways in this. Sirius needs to grow up. He can't leave school with this thinking of how to prank the next person he meets."

"How is Marlene going to be able to help him out there if she isn't in her right state of mind."

"By showing him she needs him to act like an adult so that he can help her get through the pain of losing her family."

"I don't see it, but I'm no expert when it comes to matters of the heart. Just make sure that you have a back up plan in place in case Sirius crashes and burns. I'll see you later, I think I'm going to go lie down."

Merlin-

When Voldemort received word of what happened with the McKinnons, he almost killed the messenger. He didn't send his best Death Eaters to do the job, but four strong fighters should have been able to take out an old couple and their two daughters. Letting the oldest daughter escape was too much, and losing the four he sent was even worse.

Another thing that bothered him was, why was it taking Pettigrew so long to move his valuables. He wasn't aware that Peter couldn't Apporate. His feeling of weakness was taking it's toll on Voldemort. He was so weak at the time, he couldn't create any more protection. It would take too much out of him. If he could find a way to build it back up, he may be able to do it, but how does one build up what he doesn't have anymore. If he had known what was going on he would have used his last bit of strength to create one more Horcrux. Now it was too late and he had to hope that at least one of them would remain safe.

His list of needs kept growing, as he knew his inner circle was getting old. He needed fresh young people to rebuild it also. He saw possibilities in the students ready to leave Hogwarts next year, but that was almost a year away. What could he do until then? Pettigrew was showing himself to be unworthy. His only ability was his Animagus form, which was good for spying. It would come in handy when his new circle was with him. Other than that, he was worthless. He was a weak wizard at best. He needed someone else to do his thinking for him. He was mostly a coward. He may make a fair servant when he was no longer needed as a spy.

He had a long way to go with his army, and a long time to get there. Somehow he had to maintain his grip on what he had, before any more of his protection was taken away from him. Pettigrew better hurry things up and find a safer place to hide what was left.

Merlin-

Marlene didn't recognize any of her friends that surrounded her bed. She didn't know any of the Professors that looked in on her. It wasn't safe to say she knew who she was, as she didn't respond to anyone saying her name. Her state of shock may be one that she will never recover from. But Sirius would never let her forget he was there for her. He was by her side since she was brought in, and would remain there until she was ready to leave.

Lily tried to be there as often as she could. She hated what the two were going through. Marlene was lost somewhere in her mind, and she took Sirius with her. Sirius didn't eat for two days, until Lily brought him something to eat herself and sat there to make sure he finished it. She did that for two more meals until Sirius accepted the meals he was served and began to eat them as soon as he got them. He even shared it with Marlene when she was alert. It wasn't often to begin with, but as time moved on, she became alert more often and even looked forward to Sirius feeding her some of his food. She still didn't recognize names, but you could see she found Sirius' company welcomed. Then the same went to Lily. Slowly but surely, she began to feel good around them.

It was ten days before she said her first word, "I need to use the Loo." It was one of those times that Sirius was alone and Poppy wasn't even available. He took her hand to help her up and led her to the Loo where he let go of her hand and watched her as she entered it and then shut the door. Sirius leaned against the wall to wait for her to finish. He laughed to himself about her choice for her first words. Hello would have been sufficient.

Once she was done, she opened the door and grabbed for Sirius' hand to help her return to her bed. Once she was back in it, she tried to drop his hand, but he refused to let go. She looked into his eyes and thought she saw something there. It looked like caring, love and one other emotion. "You can let go now."

A smile crossed his face as he answered, "What if I don't want to?"

"You have to let go eventually. But if it pleases you to hold my hand, then please continue." and with that she fell asleep. Sirius watched her while she slept, still holding her hand.

When Lily entered about an hour later, Sirius told her what happened and she laughed out loud. Of all the things she could have said, this choice would have last on her guess list. She did like the fact that Sirius was still holding her hand.

Marlene must have heard them talking as she woke up and saw Lily sitting there. She also saw that Sirius was still holding her hand. "Don't you plan on ever letting me go?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because I like it too much."

"You like my hand?"

"I like holding your hand. It means I have contact with you. Tell me, do you remember what your name is?"

"What kind of a question is that Sirius? Lily, what is the matter with him?"

Lily smiled at her friend, "I think he likes you. How are you Marlene?"

"I'm just fine, now do you mind telling me what's going on?"

By the time Lily finished with the story, Marlene was in tears and Sirius held her hand even tighter to let her know he was still there. She squeezed his hand to let him know she appreciated it. Nothing else was said for another hour when, "How long have I been here, Lils?"

"About three weeks. Sirius has never left your side in all that time, except to do his duties. I tried to be here as often as I could. Others have been by to see how you were doing, but Sirius and I are the only ones who know you are now speaking."

"Someone else now knows as well." Poppy said as she walked in.

"Hello Madam Pomfrey, how am I doing?"

This got Poppy laughing, "It seems you are doing fine. The doctor must have given you the right medicine. Welcome back Miss McKinnon."

They talked for a few more minutes when Poppy went to her office to write in her journal about Marlene. She also got hold of Remus and James to tell them about her. They were there about fifteen minutes later, along with Alice and Selena. It was not long after that when Severus and Narcissa joined them.

Marlene was kept there for three more days. Lily told her when she was released, she would be staying with them to help her with her loss. They told her about trying to hold off the funeral until she was better, but when she didn't come around after ten days, it had to be done. Marlene was sorry she missed it, and she promised she would visit their graves as soon as she was released. Sirius told her he would go with her, to which she thanked him for everything he had done for her.

Once she was released, her and Sirius made their visit and Marlene was finally able to say goodbye to her family. Sirius had to hold her while she did it. Once he got her back to the Manor, he helped her to the couch, where she fell asleep. He knew it was going to be hard for it to come by for her, so he let her sleep while someone was there to comfort her should she have bad dreams.

Merl finally made it back to the Manor to see Marlene asleep on the couch and Sirius sitting by her side watching her as she slept. He also saw James and Lily standing in the door way across the room and he had his arm around her and she had her head on his shoulder. They watched as Sirius was also having trouble staying awake. They were soon joined by Remus, and Lily took his hand as they all watched the two in the room, never seeing Merl until he cleared his throat. Even Sirius turned his head when he did it. James dropped his arm and Lily dropped Remus' hand, as if they were all caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Merl laughed at this, "Don't let me stop you. It looked like the perfect family moment. Please just carry on what you were doing."

Lily turned and went to the kitchen. James turned and went to the study, Remus went across the room and joined Merl. They left Sirius to his job of watching over Marlene while she slept. They went to the kitchen to see what Lily was doing.

Lily saw the two enter and she went on the defensive right away, "It's not what you think, Merl. We were consoling each other as we watched Sirius doing the same for Marlene. It was nothing more than that."

"Of course Lils. I didn't think it could be anything else. Especially with you holding Remus' hand. However, you didn't try to take James' arm away or even drop Remus' hand. I find that kind of a little excessive for being friends. Now if you had been holding both their hands, I would have found that as trying to console both." Merl laughed his deep laugh for a moment, then he became serious once again, "Lily, I know you think I'm nuts trying to get you and James together, but you have to see he has changed for the better. I think the game we are playing is over and you have to begin to consider James as a possible mate. Again, don't ask me why, because I can't tell you specifically, just that you two are meant to be together."

"And I am supposed to take your word on that? Merl, I see he is trying his best, but it is not enough. He still plays Sirius' games and will always be playing them, most likely. Maybe this disaster with Marlene will change Sirius. I can only hope it does. Not completely, as that would be too drastic, but enough to slow him down. With that James will change even more as well. But until that time, James is not ready to make a commitment."

"You are one hard nut to crack, Lily. But I will keep pushing it on you, until you see the light. I hope you agree to ending our game."

This time Lily laughed, "You are such a moron, Merl. That ended the day you said we should try to make him jealous. James may be a sot, but he is not a complete idiot. He saw though our plan from the beginning and didn't try anything to stop it."

"Ya, I didn't really think it was going to work. I guess I'm not boyfriend material."

Remus couldn't help it, "I don't know Merly, I could go for you."

"Shove it Moony, you're not my type. Hell, you're not even my species." which got them all laughing.

Merlin-}

Albus didn't want to let Merlin get all the glory of the hunt for the Horcruxes, so he set out to find one on his own. The Gaunt family Ring was his target and he went over Regulus' notes to find a clue. Albus knew of the Riddle Manor, and the Gaunt homestead. He had seen them both and that was why he thought it was Riddle Manor for the hiding place. That was until he saw the Manor was in use. There was a guard in place at the entrance, but it was a muggle guard that appeared to be a bit hard of hearing. He had a keen sense of vision though as he saw Albus approach his gate. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so. Have you seen any activity going on inside the manor?"

"What's it to you if I have?"

"Didn't the Riddle heir die about fifteen years ago?"

"YA, So what's it to you?"

"Don't you ever answer a question with out asking one of your own?"

"Don't you ever ask a question that has nothing personal about it?"

"Do you want me to get the local authorities to get you to answer me?"

"Do I look like I care if you do or not?"

"No, I don't suppose you do. I don't guess you care who may be in there, doing what ever. Even if it was murder."

"I would know if something like that was going on in there, and I would report it to the authorities. The only thing bad going on is the local kids coming by to break a window here and there, nothing serious. They did try to start a fire once, but I put it out before it did any damage."

"Is that all the activity you have seen around here?"

"Asking it again, are you? Look, it is none of my business what the owner allows to go in there, as long as they aren't breaking any laws."

It was all Albus really needed to know. There is no way he would hide the Horcrux where he was staying. It could be found by one of his own men, and that would bring up too many questions as to it's importance.

Albus headed to the Gaunt residence to see if it was there. How Merlin thought it was there, he may never know, except that He saw the Riddle Manor being occupied. It was possible, since he was the one who found the papers of Regulus Black.

The outside of the home was just as he last saw it. The skeletons of the snakes nailed to the walls and the door were still there. The growth of weeds in the yard was taking over and the house in general was ready to collapse, with holes in the roof and the door being held up by a hinge. However, he could feel the protections used on the remains of the building, and knew it had to be there as there could be no other reason to protect it.

He entered the grounds and felt for each spell and did away with them one by one, except for one. It was the one that would tell Tom someone was taking down his protection around his family home. It would also tell him someone was entering it, but Albus had a way around this. He stood at the door and felt for the dark magic the ring gave off. He found it under a loose floorboard. He pulled the floorboard away with his magic, then he guided a rope to the box he thought held the ring and secured the rope around it. He then took a long branch and placed it at the opening in the floor and hooked it to the rope and pulled it straight up and out of the hole. He pulled the branch back to him bringing the rope with it so that he wouldn't drop the box. He finally got it to him and banished the rope and discarded the branch.

When he opened the box and saw the ring, he also saw something else about the ring. The setting in the ring was a magical stone known as the Resurrection Stone. He put the ring in his mokeskin pouch and departed the area.

When he got back to his office, he dropped the ring out of his pouch and studied the ring closely. Then he made the worst mistake of his life. He picked up the ring and put it on. He knew his mistake as soon as it was in place. He felt the poison running throughout his body. He needed help, and knew it could only come from one source. Merlin. He didn't know if it would work, but he tried sending a mental message to him.

Merl had been sitting down listening to Sirius and Marlene talk when he felt the message Albus sent him. He excused himself from the group and went to the Lav, where he changed to Merlin. He left there using his elf mode of transportation and arrived in the Headmaster's office. He saw a very weak Albus Dumbledore sitting in his chair. On his hand he saw what was doing it to him. "You fool, you. What ever got it in your head to wear the damn thing?"

"An old man's dream I suppose. I was hoping to use it to talk to someone that was very close to me at one time. As you can see, it didn't work. Do you think you could help me?"

Merlin cussed him the whole time he was scanning him. He found what poison was being used and h e had to get to the Potions lab for the right ingredients for the cure. He just hoped it wasn't too late. If it was, then Albus Dumbledore would not be long for this earth.


	9. Chapter 9

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Nine

Merlin searched Professor Slughorns cabinets for the earth's version of Selisnek. It was a plant that if used too often or you use too much, it becomes a deadly poison. There was none in Slughorns store. His next option was Professor Sprout. Although she didn't have any, she thought she knew what it was he was looking for. Arsenic was the closest thing to what he explained he was looking for. A white tasteless powder that would poison a person with the right dosage, which wasn't much. When used as an ingredient to a potion, the amount needed for this potion had to be divided up and measured before given to a student. No more than what was called for would be given out. There also had to be additional Professors there when it was being used so that the arsenic would go into the brew, and not a pocket.

Merlin found some in Hogsmeade and completed the potion for Albus. The amount needed for the potion was as close a person could get with out killing someone. However, it was definitely necessary for this potion in order to kill the poison already running through Albus' system. It would be touch and go for quite a while, once the two poisons began to fight over his life.

Merlin-}

While Merlin was watching out for Albus, Sirius was doing his own monitoring. Marlene was responding well to her friends, and would soon be able to get up and visit with them outside of her room. Sirius still had to stay with her at night, as the nightmares began to get more frequent, but also better handled now that he knew what was needed to calm her down. Quite a bit of hugging and gentle, quiet talk and she was able to finally fall asleep. It didn't happen too often twice in a night, but Sirius set up two chairs for him to sleep in to be close, just in case.

When he needed to do something, Lily would take his place. During these times, Lily and Marlene would talk, and after a few days, it drew itself to Sirius. At first it was why he was doing it. Then it went to how long would he continue to do it. Then it went to will he continue it after she was released.

Lily's answer to each, "We are talking Sirius Black here, Marlene. Who knows what he is going to do from one minute to the next. However, this is the longest I have ever seen him take an interest in anything that didn't involve a prank. To be honest with you, I think he may like you more than he would care to admit. It depends on you, how far you will allow him to take it. I will tell you that after your first date with him, he never looked at another girl in the same way. He flirted with them because that is what he does, but no dates, and definitely no snogging."

It didn't get a laugh like Lily thought it would. Instead it drew a question, "What do you think I should do Lils? I do like him, but never thought of it as a serious liking. Do you think he could become serious if I went out on a date with him?"

"I think it would take more than one date to get him serious about anything, Marlene. But, if you like him and would like to see it get closer as you and him being a couple, then try it and see. You don't have to make any commitment."

"I know Lils, but what if I want to, and he doesn't?"

"Then rip his lips off his face and stick them to his Arse, because that is where he will be talking out off when I get through with him. I told him once before, I didn't wish to see any of my friends hurt because of his idiocy. He knows what will happen if he does hurt you. I just don't think he would. He really had watched over you for the last five days, and will continue as long as he thinks you need it. Maye you should pretend an episode, to see how much he means it."

"What do you mean?"

"A relapse. You fall back into a Coma and see how he handles it. What he says to you while he thinks you can't hear him."

"LILY, You have been around them too long. You're beginning to think like they do. It is starting to scare me."

"Hey, if you wish to remain sane around them, you have to be able to fight back. They have taught me a few tricks since I have been with them."

"OK, since you are so interested in my life, how is yours going. I mean, how are you and James doing?"

"I had a feeling that would come up. If only he would grow up and listen more to his thoughts and not those of Sirius. Sometimes he seems so close, then Sirius comes running to him with a new hair brained scheme, and off he goes with him to see what they could do. Thank goodness Sirius isn't interested in these ideas right now. Maybe it will give James time to consider where he stands with me, and try to better himself. So your little act would be helping me as well as yourself."

"Sounds to me like you are doing this more for yourself, then for me. You had to know I would be bringing it up and had this little plot all planned out. But, if it will help us both, then perhaps I'll try it. Let me see how the evening goes. If it goes better than I expected, then the plan is off."

Now Lily did laugh, "Of course Marlene, I would never ask you to do something just for me."

"OH NO YOU DON'T! There is no way I am going to fall for that, (you will help me because you won't really know you are helping me) routine."

Now they were both laughing as Marlene knew that wasn't what was happening. It just sounded like something that would confuse Sirius, so she tried it out on Lily.

Merlin-}

James had been thinking about Lily, and how he could win her over. He knew she wanted him to quit following Sirius into his stupid pranks. He knew she wanted him to become more self set and minded. She wanted him to become his own person and do and act like Remus does. Like an adult, which is what he will become in another year.

This is why Sirius had to leave Marlene, so that him and James could talk in private. It wasn't going to happen in the Manor, so the went to the Three Broomsticks. He needed a break from the heartache he felt about how helpless Marlene was at this time. He knew she would get better as time moved on, but she needed everybody's support for the time being.

Once they were seated, James took the stage, "Pads, I have been doing some very serious thinking, and don't go there. You know what I mean. Look Pads, I love Lily more than I can explain. Merl has been trying to get us together, to include that stupid trick to try and make me jealous. I don't know why he is doing it, but I do appreciate it. What I'm trying to say pal, is we have to stop acting like kids and start acting like the adults we are about to become. This is our last year in school, and I would like to leave it with Lily as my true love. I intend to marry her once we are done with school. In order for me to do this, I have to forget about the pranks. Lily is most likely going to be Head Girl this year, so I have to be on my best behavior. Being Captain of the Quidditch team helps a bit, but if I were a prefect, it would be better."

James was taken back when a smile formed on Sirius' face, "Are you sure we don't share some kind of a bond, Prongsie? I was hoping to talk to you about this very same subject. Marlene is going to need help, and I can't do that if I keep getting in trouble with my stupid games. I was going to sit and talk with you when Marlene was feeling stronger. I like this better because it showed me we are thinking the same. It also tells me we are both thinking of the future. You with Lils and me with Marlene, if she will have me."

"I don't think you will have any trouble with winning her heart, Pads. I believe that part is already done. The next step is proving to her that you are done with the games. That part should be easy as well, since I won't be there agreeing with your ideas. You know Remus won't help with them either. He showed that to us last year. H was the first to grow up. Not having Peter around us to slow us down also helps. I can't believe he left us like he did, but to tell the truth, I feel good about it. It may be hard to ignore him next year, but I am going to try like hell to do just that."

"I say we never should have tried helping him in the first place. I hope helping him become an Animagus doesn't hurt us later. In his form, he could do a lot of damage as a spy for Voldemort. He definitely fits his form, as a rat."

"We will just have to find a way to detect his presence, like a warning. Lily and Merl might be able to help us there. Maybe having some cats could do it. Or you and Remus could do it."

"With his smell, a normal person could do it, but I like you idea of having some cats around just in case Moony and I have a cold or we're not there. Maybe even one while we are at school. Or better yet, a Kneazle."

James liked that idea better than his own. "Pads, you're starting your trip up the ladder of success. That is is a great idea. Kneazles are stonger and more protective than an ordinary house cat. They are magical and can get in places an ordinary cat can't. Their senses are much stronger. I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"I do have some good ideas on occasion. But I also happen to know where I can get some pretty cheap. A friend of mine has a home up north where he has about seven or eight of them. That was five years ago, so the numbers may be even greater now. It could be that he will just let us have three if thats the case."

"It doesn't hurt to ask. Lily and Marlene may even fall in love with them. Boy, talk about a feather in our caps if that happens."

"I didn't even think of those benefits, but you're right. A new pet around the house and maybe even in school would be like giving candy to a baby. Lils and Marlene should take to them from the start. At least I hope they do. I wonder if anyone is alergic to cats?"

"SHITE! That should be something we need to ask before we go do something stupid. Damn, Pads, you're on a roll. Keep that up, and we will both be with our ladies before school even starts back up. Too bad Dorcus moved away. Remus could use someone as well. I wonder if Selena is serious with that Xeno fellow?"

"Didn't they go out for a while in fourth year?"

"All the better, as they already know each other."

"Prongsie, you're starting to get stupid again. You know how Remus feels about getting serious. We don't want to try to hook them up, only to get Selena all upset again. However, I don't know how Remus had the strength to let her go. She is a knockout and almost as smart as Lils. Brains and Beauty make quite a strong potion."

James felt embarrassed by Pads statement. Of course Pads was right, and that was what made it all the weirder. He was growing up faster than James was.

Merlin-}

The potion Merlin gave to Albus worked for the most part, but it left a telltale mark. Albus would never be able to use his left arm again and it would be permanently marked by the blackened skin. It wasn't a pretty sight, and he would have to wear a glove on his left hand, to hide the discoloration. He would also be susceptible to colds and flues. It broke down his immune system. None the less, Albus was grateful to Merlin for curing him. He knew how much of an idiot he was to put the ring on and hoped to never do anything that stupid again.

Merlin told him that it also took probably ten or twelve years off his life. However, Albus took this in stride as he didn't know how much longer he had to live, but he did know it was longer now than it was a day ago. It also brought up Albus handing over the head of the Order of the Phoenix to either Alastor or Amelia. Amelia was the best choice because of her position in the Ministry. She would know of any thing going on concerning the Death Eaters.

Since Poppy told him he had to stay in bed for a few days, it gave him time to think about the other Horcruxes. With two down, and at least three more to find, he felt this next year would be a productive one. Hopefully find at least two more, leaving the last one, which ever one it was, for the end.

Merlin-}

Peter had removed the Diary from the desk of the Minister's office. It was there because Fudge was Voldemort's lackey. He wasn't a death eater, but he took money from him to hide certain things, to include evidence. The Diary wasn't evidence, but it was completely dark magic. It was so dark, it couldn't be left without protection. Peter felt it had to go to a person. It was either Severus or Lucius. When Peter went to Severus' home and he wasn't there, that left Lucius. Peter took the Diary to Malfoy Mansion And asked to see Lucius. Having been there before, the house elf allowed him entry and had him take a seat. Lucius wasn't happy to see him, and was particularly upset when he dumped the Diary on him. Once Peter left, Lucius took the Diary down to the hidden chamber under the sitting room and stored it in the safe behind his grandfathers portrait. His father never used it, thinking it was too easy to get into. He took more faith in Gringotts security. Lucius was too young to consider such things.

Once Peter left, he had two more items to secure and then he could get back to helping the Dark Lord and his plans for the coming years goals. He hoped to be a big part of these, to show his ex friends and the arse that caused their split, Merl, that he was better than they thought. That he could do more than expected and even impress Lily Evans. How she could even think about liking Severus and James was beyond him. Of course she could never like him like that, but if he could prove to her that he was headed for greatness by becoming a Death Eater in high standings, then maybe he could get her to see him in a different light.

He didn't take into heart that she could never like him as he was on the wrong side and because she wasn't fond of him when they were friends. If he knew she now despised him because of changing sides, he would be thinking of how to bring her to her knees and have her begging for forgiveness.

Peter never realized that his simple thinking would never get him very far in the ranks of the Death Eaters. Voldemort used him for things that would keep Peter out of his sight for long periods of time. He was taking a chance using Peter to secure his prized possessions. He would have to follow up and see that they had been taken from their current spot and placed elsewhere. He also needed to know which of them were still left, as he knew some had been found and destroyed. Hopefully before Peter got to them, because if it was after he got to them, then more will be found and destroyed. If that were the case, then Peter would soon follow his possessions and be destroyed.

Merlin-}

The summer Holidays were coming to an end and school was just two days away. Marlene had grown in strength and spirit, thank to Sirius and Lily. Her and Sirius were now boyfriend and girlfriend and things were going great. Sirius still did minor pranks on people, but nothing like he pulled in school.

James and Lily were also closer, and Lily liked the change she saw in him. He didn't help Sirius with these pranks, and he paid more attention to her. However what really impressed her was that James did not let his friendship with Remus go ignored. He included him in everything they did. But Lily could feel his hurt at not being able to have someone with him when they did these things. James could not help him there as his concern was like that of Remus'. How could you you have a meaningful relation with a woman when you were afraid of what might happen.

James sat and talked to Lily about his idea of getting Remus and Selena back together, but she didn't agree with him. Remus hurt her when he broke up with her in their fourth year for no good reason, except she deserved better. Who was he to know what she deserved. If she liked Remus, then he should accept that and not question it. In her mind, there was no one better. Remus was smart, kind, good looking and affectionate. He was always a gentleman and never tried to take advantage of her. Until he dropped the bomb shell. It took her a year to get over it.

Now that she was dating Xenophilius Lovegood, she was getting over the hurt and moving on with her life. There was no way she would let James do anything to break them up.

This was the big reason James and Lily were not yet together, as she thought he was still not grown up. She was surprised at the way Sirius had grown. Him and Marlene were making great strides and you could see where she was getting over her loss slowly, but surely. Her nightmares were less frequent and when she did have them, Sirius was right there for her to help her through them. She hoped if James saw this he would grow up as well. Yes, he had made great strides, but that one idea of his was enough to show he still needed to mature. But he wasn't too far from it, and perhaps sometime during the school year he would show her he had made that final step.

Merlin and Albus couldn't find another Horcrux, but they were not too concerned about it. They knew if they kept searching, they would be found. What they did both agree on was that if they did find them, they would not destroy them. They both felt that the ones they have destroyed had been felt by Voldemort and if they destroyed anymore, they may lose any chance of finding the rest. With only three or four more left, it was too big of a chance to risk.

Now Merl took sometime to enjoy what was left of the summer with his friends. He liked how Sirius and Marlene were getting along. Severus and Narcissa were even farther along. Merl was surprised that they were not married yet, they were that far along. However, one would have thought he would be concerned about James and Lily, but he wasn't. In fact, he was impressed by how much James had grown in maturity. He knew Lily saw it as well. When she told him about James' idea about Remus and Selena, he didn't think the same as Lily. He saw it as James maturing because of his concern for his friend. Maybe Selena was the wrong person to try and pair him up with, but it was the thought that counted.

What did worry him was how Lily was trying to pair him up with her friends. She knew he could never get involved with a woman, but her thought was even if he couldn't get involved, he could still date.

Merl tried to explain to her that he couldn't even think about her friends, because he was not of their kind. He finalized his argument by showing her his real form again, and Lily dropped her idea and promised never to try it again.

It wasn't that he was hideous in his real form. In fact he had a pleasant appearance, but it was a little more than one could take. Pure energy taking the form of what could be called an angel, was too hard to imagine, let alone see and believe. Plus being over three meters tall was also hard to get use to.

One thing Merl was trying to figure out was when the time would be right for him to return to his home world. What would be the defining moment. Would it be the end of Voldemort? Would it be the birth of the one to finally end the threat? Would it be the same one to be this instrument? Would it end the same as it was meant to be, or will it all end quicker because of the changes Merl put into affect? He knew he had at least two years left here, and if that was the case, then it would be the fastest assignment he ever had.

What he hated about this ending was he had come to enjoy his stay here and the friends he made. It was the first time the parents of the chosen one were alive when he arrived. But who were they to be? If Lily and James didn't come to terms about their relationship, would all be lost? Things had to come together for his plan to succeed, and that meant that James and Lily had to marry and have a child.

He would never tell a soul about this, and that made things difficult for him. This school year meant everything, and he had to make sure they went his way. This was why he asked Albus to make James Head Boy for this final year. Being a Captain of the Quidditch Team made this possible.

James never told anyone about his placement as Head Boy, but him and Sirius did visit Sirius' friend and came back with three Kneazles that were still young. One was black and white with a thin feline build. Another was orange and white with a stouter build, The last one was pure white with a black nose and was bigger than the other two. This one he decided to give to Lily personally.

When they showed up at home with the three animals, Lily, Marlene, Narcissa and Remus couldn't believe their eyes, and when James gave the white one to Lily, she cried. James didn't know why, but began to ask for her forgiveness for doing something stupid again, whatever it was.

Lily then started laughing while still crying, "You big dummy, I'm not mad at you. In fact, this was a beautiful surprise. I didn't think you two were capable of such sweetness. I think I'll name this one Spot, because of his nose."

Narcissa got to name the second one and came up with Sherbert because of the orange and white stripes.

Marlene passed on naming one because she couldn't think straight just yet. She was still not quite up to making decisions, even minor ones like naming a cat.

Remus looked at everyone else, waiting to hear the name of the final Kneazle. No one seemed to step forward. "Isn't anyone going to name this last one?"

James looked to Sirius and when he saw a blank look on his face, he turned back to Remus. "It looks like the choice is all yours Moony. What ever you think sounds right is what he will be called."

Remus looked at the small Kneazle and tried to think of something that was small, black and white. He couldn't come up with something, so he tried to look at it in a different way. He thought of Skunk, but dropped it right away. Then Stinker, and dropped it as well.

James and Sirius were getting impatient. "Come on Moony, how hard can it be to name a cat?" Sirius complained.

"Just give me a minute, I'll think of something." he was looking at the cat while he said this and saw something he hadn't seen before. The white stripe along it's back, changing to a black stripe along it's side reminded him of day changing to night, and the feeling it gave you while watching the change. "I think I know what to call him. Twilight."

It was Marlene that commented first, "Remus, that's a beautiful name. It's perfect. I see it too, where the white strip along it's back meets the black one on it's side. Like going from day to night."

Remus said thank you and picked it up and handed it to Marlene. She pulled it to her chest and everyone started to smile when it began to purr. Marlene smiled as well, but a tear formed in her eye. It was the first meaningful thing Sirius ever gave her, even if it was Remus that handed it to her. The feelings she had for Sirius got stronger and more secure.

James didn't know it, but his and Lily's also got stronger.

Merl entered the home as this was taking place, and he saw the way things were shaping up and liked the direction it was taking.

Merlin-}

The time to return to Hogwarts had arrived, and the seven friends stepped onto the platform where the train was waiting for the students. All three ladies had their cats in their arms, and their men at their sides. To James it was a new feeling, but one he loved. It was the closest Lily ever allowed him to get without something to create it, like a thank you, or a greeting. He even had his arm on her shoulder.

Marlene was cuddled in Sirius' arms and they both played with Twilight.

Severus and Narcissa were the same way as Sirius and Marlene, and they played with Sherbert. Sherbert was the feisty one of the three and played rougher than his brothers. Severus had the scratches to prove it. It never did scratch Narcissa though.

They talked while they waited for their friends to show. Selena and Xeno were the next to show, and they stowed their Trunks in a different berth and went to find Lily and Narcissa. When they found them, Selena went right for the Kneazles, especially the pure white one. This was because her and Lily were closer than she was to Narcissa and Marlene. She told Marlene that she was sorry to hear about her family, but was happy to see she had good friends to help her through it.

Xeno was reading something that Remus asked about. "Oh, it is just a book on exotic animals that are seldom seen. I am thinking about starting my own publication when I finished with School and bring these wonderful creatures to our world, by writing articles on them."

Selena and Xeno left when Merl entered, so that he could sit down. He just got seated when Frank and Alice entered the berth. Frank was going to stay standing so that Alice could sit, when Marlene moved to sit on Sirius' lap to give them both room to sit. Sirius looked to James and Remus and had the silliest grin they ever saw on his face.

Alice was the frist one to ask about who got Head Boy and Head Girl. Lily told her that she was going to be Head Girl, but hadn't heard who the Head Boy was.

Alice continued, "I thought it would be Frank since he has been a Prefect for two years, but he is going to be a Prefect once again. I hope it's not Malfoy. That would just ruin the year for me."

Lily and Narcissa shared the sentiment. Malfoy would just be too wrong for the post. No one saw the smile on James' face. Or the look of amusement on Merl's. James didn't think anyone knew he was the new Head Boy.

The train began it's long ride to Hogwarts and the group settled in for the journey. Sirius couldn't believe how light Marlene was on his lap. He wanted to just hug her for the entire trip.

Narcissa and Severus held hands for the entire trip and James and Lily sat close, but no hand holding as yet. Frank and Alice held hands and when Frank would compliment her, she would kiss him on the cheek. Alice also told them of his proposal and her acceptance. Lily and Narcissa got up and hugged her and then sat back down. Marlene then got up and went to her as well. For that brief moment, Sirius felt lost without the comfort of Marlene on his lap. He felt better immediately when she took her seat once more.

The trip finally came to end and the group left the train and found a carriage they all could sit in.

Once the sorting was finished and the meal was served, the talk once more came to who the new Head Boy would be. This was answered once the meal was finished and the plates cleared away. Albus stood up and began his welcome speech. It came to the part where he announced the Head Girl and Head Boy. "I would like to announce this years Head Girl and Head Boy. Our new Head Girl is Lily Evans, so if you would, please give her a round of applause." Once it was done, he continued, "Now our new Head Boy is James Potter. Please give him a round of applause." James saw Lily staring at the Headmaster like he was insane.

"What the hell was he thinking making James Head Boy? There is no way he is going to finish the year as Head Boy. He will be stripped of the title two weeks into the school year." Lily turned when Narcissa nudged her and saw her point to James. He was hurt by the words Lily just said, and she felt bad about it, but would not apologize to him because what she said she truly believed.

Merl wanted to spank Lily for her biting words. Maybe she thought it was going to happen, but it was something she should have kept to her self.


	10. Chapter 10

Merlin Keeperoliver Chapter Ten

It was Halloween and James was still Head Boy. Lily no longer thought of James as an idiot and was thinking of accepting his next asking for a date.

James and Lily both reported to Albus when they found out Peter never showed up for school. Albus showed them the letter he was sent by Peter telling him he had other things to do rather than waste his time barely getting by with his grades.

Sirius and Marlene were now better than close and Severus and Narcissa joined Frank and Alice in the betrowthed department. Lily became excited when Cissa told her about it. She was so happy for her.

Even Remus looked happier for some reason. No one knew the reason for it, but as long as he stayed this way they didn't care, as long as he didn't get hurt or hurt somebody else.

They were seeing less and less of Merl, as he would disappear as soon as classes were over and didn't return until the wee hours of the morning. There were even days where he would skip class and disappear for the entire day and still return late in the evening. What they didn't know was that Albus was also gone during these times.

They also didn't know that Amelia had taken over the Head of the OotP and Alistor Moody was her second in command. Albus had become just a regular member, but his word was still respected. Merlin had also taken a position with the group, but he didn't use the name Merlin. He called himself Buzz Walker, knowing Luke wouldn't mind his borrowing the name. He also changed his appearance and this got Albus thinking about his friend. He knew he was in school as someone else, so that is three different people he was representing, each with a different appearance. Maybe later when things aren't so hectic, he would look around.

The first Hogsmeade weekend was announced to the students and James was right there by Lily to ask her out. "Lily, I know you don't think much of me, but I can assure you that I have done quite a bit of growing up in the last year. Hopefully it is enough for you to notice and agree to go on a date with me this weekend."

"OK."

"Did you just say yes?"

"No, I said OK."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"I suppose."

"Now you are confusing the hell out of me. Will you go with me this weekend?"

"Perhaps."

"I think I liked OK better, It was more of a yes than perhaps. I'll try once more. Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend with someone?"

"Yes."

"OH, OK then, maybe next time it will be me you go with."

"Are you giving up already James?"

"Tell me what else I can do. You just said you were going this weekend with someone."

"You could ask me who it is."

"What difference does it make if it isn't me." James saw a smile form on her face. "OK, who is it, since you are so persistent on telling me?"

"You're taking all the fun away from this James. What happened to you? You use to be so aggressive about this dating business. You always asked me who it was taking me."

"I guess I have changed enough to respect your privacy when you tell me something that leaves a question."

Lily softened at this. James has grown up, and she liked this new James. "I'm sorry to put you through that James, but I had to see if you really had grown up. You have, and yes, I will to Hogsmeade with you this weekend." and she walked off to let it sink in.

Once she was out of sight, James was doing cartwheels down the hall. He didn't see her sneak back to see his reaction and smile at what she saw.

No one could take away the feeling James had as the day wore on. No one would have believed who the first one to guess correctly why he was so happy. Severus walked up to him and said, "She finally said yes to a date, didn't she?"

"You know it Sev. I can't believe it. I must have really impressed her over the summer and the start of the school year. I knew being Head Boy would change my luck."

"You actually think becoming Head Boy got you a date with Lily? You're either an idiot or have no faith in yourself. I tend to think you're an idiot."

"Doesn't matter why now does it. She said yes and that's all I care about."

"So when are you going to pop the question?"

"What question?"

"The question."

"If it is what I think you are asking, I have a long way to go before that comes up."

"Why? Just because this is your first date? You have known her now for seven years."

"Ya, but I wasn't on her favorite list for the first six. How can I wipe out six years in just six months."

"I was right, you are an idiot. You're thinking in terms of equal time. She has known you for seven years and has seen the change you made. She likes what she sees and has accepted you for that. The six years are now past and just a memory. It is time to make new memories. You saw what happened to me when I dropped the ball, so to speak. I didn't try to talk to her and lost her. Don't make the same mistake I did, James."

"How can you tell me that when Lily is that same girl you lost?"

"OK, have you seen Narcissa lately. If you have then you know why I can say this. Narcissa is just as beautiful as Lily, but on a different plain. Lily is down to earth, and Narcissa is heaven sent. Lily is a breath of fresh air and Narcissa is all I need to breathe."

"So you gave up the living for an angel?"

"Am I talking to Black here. Are you so dense that you don't even know what you are talking about. No, I didn't give up on the living to be with an angel. Narcissa is living, just like Lily. She is angelic, just like Lily. She is caring, just like Lily. She is mine, unlike Lily. Now, go away as you are starting to give me a headache."

He may have given up practical jokes, but he still had a away of getting under a person's skin. James walked the other way laughing to himself.

Merlin-}

Three months later, James was still Head Boy and him and Lily were still dating. He had been with her during the Christmas Hols and the train ride to and from Hogwarts.

It was one month to Valentine's Day and he was planning something special for that day. The gift was hidden so no one could find it. He wrote a poem for her and made plans with Professor Dumbledore to allow them to leave school grounds for the evening. It was just to Hogsmeade and the Three Broomsticks, but Rosie promised him a very special night.

The waiting for the special day was killing him with impatience. Each day became a week to James as the time seemed to crawl by. Both Remus and Sirius saw this and snickered behind his back. They never saw him so nervous. There was still two weeks left before the Hogsmeade weekend and it was murder for him.

As little as Merl had been around, he still was able to see James' condition and asked Remus what his problem was. "James has a date with Lily on Valentine's Day and the wait is slowly driving him crazy. He wants to go so bad that he is ready to kidnap Lily and just take her to Hogsmeade without waiting for the holiday."

Merl laughed at this, but inside he felt good about the progress that was made for his two friends who so badly needed to be together. He and Albus had been to so many different places looking for Horcruxes that he hasn't been able to follow the progress closely. They did manage to find the location of Hufflepuff's cup, but were unable to get to it. The reason they knew where it was came to them by accident. One of the guards at Gringotts complained that after the description Albus gave for it, he remembered how something liked that burned him when he was asked to place it in the LeStrange vault by some little guy, not much taller than the guard. He had a letter from Bellatrix Black and Rudolphus LeStrange granting him permission to enter the vault and place the cup in a secure place above the other contents of the vault.

Albus and Merl now knew someone was moving the Horcruxes to different locations. Just who, was not a question as they both felt it was the missing student, Peter Pettigrew. Why he was doing it was also not a question as they both felt that Voldemort felt something when ever they destroyed one of the artifacts. It now became a matter of time before they would have no more access to them. There was still one more they could get before it is hidden. With Peter hiding them, it could be anywhere with his capability to go where they couldn't.

At least things were working out for him with his friends. Everyone seemed to be happy with their mates, except for Remus who wasn't with anyone that he knew of. He did see Remus was happy for some reason, but could not figure out why and no one else knew the reason.

Merlin-}

Finally, Valentine's Day arrived and James was up earlier than everyone else to get ready for his date. He showered and shaved before getting dressed and was in the sitting room an hour before anyone else even got up. He sat waiting for Lily for over an hour. When she finally made her way downstairs, James melted at the sight of her. She was wearing a flowered blouse and very tight jeans with knee high boots. She was carrying her coat over her shoulder and her bag over the other one.

James jumped up to meet her at the end of the staircase and told her how beautiful she looked. He took her hand and led her to the sofa in front of the fireplace and helped her sit down. He then took out the poem he wrote her and gave it to her. She read:

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THE DAY

WHEN I HEARD THE WORDS I LONGED FOR YOU TO SAY

YES JAMES, I'LL BE YOUR DATE

AFTER SO LONG A WAIT

BUT IT'S WORTH THE TIME FOR IT TO COME

NOT BELIEVING IT BY SOME

YET HERE IT IS, MY TIME TO SHINE

YOU AND ME ON OUR WAY TO DINE

I REALLY HOPE IT IS NOT OUR LAST

AFTER ALL THE ATTEMPTS IN OUR PAST

BUT TO SHOW US BOTH WHAT IS YET TO BE

A BETTER LIFE FOR YOU AND ME!

Lily didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was funny in a way, but so sweet in another way. It showed his frustration and his exhilaration. It showed her how much he really cared for her, and that was why she wanted to cry, making him suffer all these years. Maybe he did deserve it the first five years, but the last year and a half he really didn't and she should have had pity on him. James had proven himself and she knew it. But she had to be sure that he couldn't be persuaded by Sirius to go back to being a toe rag and a sot. Now it was time to see what he had planned for the day. The past few months of dating were fun and James was a gentleman for each date. It was enough to make Sirius sick because of the sweetness that flowed, but he never saw what he was doing to win Marlene's heart. If anything, he was even sicker than James.

James and Lily then left for Hogsmeade and the Three Broomsticks. When they entered, Lily was taken back by the display James had set up. There had to be over a thousand Tiny hearts and flowers creating a wall around a table, and another hundred surrounding a candle in the middle of the table.

James took Lily's hand and helped her to a seat. He then took his and reached across the table and took her hand again. Rosie then brought a glass of wine to the table for both and took their orders for their meal. Once she left, James got up from the table and went to Lily and got down on one knee. "Lily, for the past seven years I have loved you and tried to win your heart with stupid pranks for the first five of them. For the past two years I have tried to show you I changed. Now that you see that I have and agreed to be my girlfriend, I would like to take it to the next level. Lily Marie Evans, would you marry me and agree to be my wife?" and he pulled out the ring he had been hiding for the past eight months.

Lily had a tear in her eye and brushed it away with the back of her free hand. James was still holding her left hand and had the ring on her finger. Lily looked in to his eyes and smiled, "Even though it is against my better judgement James, I accept your proposal to be Mrs. Lily Potter." then she watched as James passed out and fell to the floor. Rosie saw this and let out a barking laugh.

"I always knew those four were idiots, but I never saw them as weak kneed. I better get my wand and wake the sap up."

"Don't bother Madam Rosemerta, he will be up and around by the time the meal gets here. In the mean time let him rest." Rosie laughed once again and left the two to their date.

A minute later James was alert enough to ask Lily if he heard right. Lily just nodded her head in agreement and James jumped up and pulled her in for a hug and a kiss that took both their breath away. James was floating on air when they both heard a disturbance outside and got up to see what the commotion was all about. The scene that appeared before them was two Death Eaters walking down the street destroying buildings and hurting or even killing innocent people. Once they saw James and Lily they changed their direction and came at them.

James took a stand between them and Lily to protect her. They both missed a white blur come across the path and attacked the two Death Eaters. Spot was soon joined by the other two kneazles Twilight and Sherbert and effectively took out the two Death Eaters. Then there were pops all around them and the Aurors took over the incident and took them into custody and took statements from everyone who saw what happened. Lily made hers while holding Spot in her arms and while James held her in his. The other two kneazles were gone from the scene.

Once they were back in the castle, it took them two hours before the crowd around them finally left them in peace. Lily was still holding Spot, and James was still holding Lily. Alice, Selena, and Marlene congratulated them both for their announcement. Later it would come from Severus and Narcissa. Remus was the only man to do it with a laugh, from their own house mates. Sirius was sitting down he was laughing so hard. He was lucky he was because Marlene hit him with a pillow hard enough to send him to the floor. He looked up with a glare, but ended it thwere when he saw the look on Marlene's face. He turned to Lily and said, "I'm sorry Lils, I didn't mean to make it sound like a joke. It is just, I never thought I'd see the day you would agree to his proposal. At least not on the first try. I thought you would make him sweat it out until the end of the year. Now if you wish to get even with me, Marlene and I have something we would like to say. Marlene, if you would please."

Marlene just shook her head, "I think I may have made a mistake, Lily. This numbskull asked me the same question James asked you, and like you, I said yes. Can you please tell me why I did this?"

Lily smiled and went to Marlene and pulled her in for a hug. "Because, Like me, you saw where they have changed for the better and we may actually be able to prepare them for the future. However, I have to tell James that there is no way he will be joining the Auror corps."

James heard this and could not be quiet, "Lils, that is what I have been working my entire school experience for. Why don't you want me to join?"

"Because what happened today in Hogsmeade. I don't wish to stay up at night wondering if I am ever going to see you again. What Marlene does is her business, but there is no way you are going to join."

"The same goes for you Sirius. I don't wish to burying another family real soon. I don't care what you do, as long as it has nothing to do with fighting."

Sirius heard this and dropped down on his knees, "Thank you my sweet, I didn't want to join the Auror corps, but when James asked me way back when, I was too stupid to argue."

James looked to Sirius and began to laugh, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right Pads. We were too young to think straight. I see where Lily is coming from and now that I have thought on the matter, I have to agree. I also see an opportunity for us and Moony to run our own business. He wpuld never have been able to join us in the Ministry, but he can join us for what I plan on opening. Now Lily, don't get mad when I say this, but I think we could open a joke shop, or better yet, buy out Zonko's. He is getting old and has not seen a new product on his shelves in ages. It is time for some new blood."

Lily and Marlene rolled their eyes but kept quiet. It may not be the ideal work, but it was safe work, and if it gave Remus a job, then all the better.

Remus was just standing there laughing at what was just said. He knew somehow Lily would get James to drop this nightmare he planned. Now he looked at his future with a brighter aspect. He didn't know what he would be doing after school was through. With this new development, he didn't have to worry about the future, and with the help of his friends, maybe he could find the right girl and settle down.

With all this happening, no one remembered that Merl still didn't know what was going on. That was until he finally made it back to the dorm late that night and was surprised to see everyone still up and being happy about something. He walked over to Lily, his favorite cource of information. "Do you mind telling me what is going on Lils?"

He was almost knocked over when she ran to hug him, "You're plan worked, Merl. James asked me to marry him finally, and I accepted. Sirius did the samething thing with Marlene and she accepted. And now, I talked James out of joining the Auror corps and Sirius was happy to hear it. Now they are going to open a joke shop and have Remus work for them."

Merl was about to answer this when James stopped him by saying, "No one said anything about Moony working for us?"

Lily pulled out of her hug with Merl and was ready to hit James when he continued, "I could never ask a friend to work for us, he would be an equal partner, just like he always has been with the Marauders. Lily, what ever made you think otherwise?"

She felt like runing and hiding in shame after the display but never got the chance as James took her in his arms to talk to her. "I know you didn't think much of me when we ferist met, Lils. In fact you probably wished to kiill Sirius and I. But did you ever see us put Remus down or shun him in all the time you saw us. We never wanted to hurt him and in fact, wanted him to know we were always there for him. Why else do you think we broke so many rules by becoming Animagi. We didn't want him to feel alone during this period. Were we really that bad, that you would think we would do this to our good friend?"

Lily held back the tears she wished to shed. "I'm sorry James. I know how much both you and Pads have changed. I made a bad judgement call and was ready to react to it. You showed me that I have some growing up to do and you also showed me that you will be there to help me with this project. I hope you can forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive, Lils. What ever you thought never came out until you just told us. Can't blame you for thinking, now can we. Now, how about you let Sirius and I talk to our partner about the future, and you go get freshened up for dinner."

Merlin-}

The end of the school year and the end of their schooling came to the seventh year class. It also set up the beginning of the lives of James and Lily, Sirius and Marlene, Frank and Alice and Severus and Narcissa. Selena and Xenophilius' plans were put on hold until Xeno got his Paper started. He was going to call it the Quibbler, which was a mix of puzzles, questions, dabbles and fantasy. Selena didn't really wish to wait, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

James asked Remus to find the right location for their venture if Zonko's didn't wish to sell. Remus first went to Zonko's and asked about selling out to the Marauders. At first the answer was no, but when Remus told him of the plans for the store and the ideas they had for merchandise, Zonko saw where a younger generation was needed to steer the store in the right direction. Fresh new ideas, and a zany group of people to run it. He heard of the Marauders from school and admired their brilliance. He finally gave in and gave a selling price to Remus, which he took to James and Sirius. Of course he also brought them his counter offer which Zonko didn't know as of yet.

The battle of financial bidding now took place. For each offer, there was a counter offer, until they came to an agreement for a fair price to both parties. The only thing Zonko asked was that any of his own products be taken off the shelves as he had the sole rights to them. The Marauders agreed to this as there were very few of these products, and they honestly felt they had better ideas for the free space.

It was also agreed upon for the four weddings to take place on the same day, which was Oct. 31st. Halloween was a special day for the Marauders, as it was the day they made their best pranks. It would also be a very hard day to forget for Sirius.

Marauder's Cove opened on the 1st of July and it was a success from the start. Once the first customer entered the store He saw the changes that took place and admired the new changes and the young men who brought them to Hogsmeade. He introduced himself to the young men, "Hello, it is good to see we have some new business minded people and some new and unique products. My name is Arthur Weasley and I have some children about ready to start school, and if I know them, they will be frequenting your store quite often. They are still a year away, but they will be wanting to see your store long before they are ready for school. I have a set of twins that are just four months old, but if they are like their uncles, they will be asking for jobs here when they become old enough."

Remus wanted to laugh at the long speech he just heard. Arthur seemed like a very nice fellow, and he looked forward to meeting his children, especially his twins. He watched as Arthur made his way through the store and pick up everything to examine it and laugh when he found out what it did. This was the type of customer they needed. It became ever funnier when he later learned that he worked in the Ministry in the Muggle Affairs Office.

Their first day had been a success, but they felt that if they had a store in Diagon Alley, their business would triple. So Remus was once again out shopping for a store to set up a second shop for the Marauders. He found a few places that would be able the amount of merchandise they had available. Unfortunately he had to deal with the Goblins of Gringotts for purchasing any one of the three. He knew the Goblins didn't let go of property cheaply. He got the prices of the three buildings and his choice of the best property. The one he selected as the best choice was one block from Gringotts and was the second highest price of the three.

The first highest one was across the street from Flourish and Botts, the book store. It was much larger than the one he thought they should get. The third was on Founder's Lane which was three blocks from Gringott's, but was the least accessible site.

He sat with James and Sirius to go over his plan for purchase. They would show interest of the one across from the book store. Remus knew the price would jump once the interest was shown. Then he would try for the one on Founder's lane. The price on that one would probably remain the same, but he would show the Goblins that it should drop because if it's location.

He would then just tell them to forget it, as their asking price was too much and start to walk out. When he was called back, asking why he didn't go for the one he really wanted, He would give them the excuse that it was too close to Gringotts, and they couldn't demonstrate their merchandise without getting complaints from them. This got the team OK, and Remus began his plan the next day.

It was just as he said it would be. When he told the Goblins of choice of the store across from the Book store, the price went up 10%. When he asked why, he was told it was because of the rennovatiuons done, and because of it's prime location. He then went to his second idea, and once again it went as he thought. The asking price stayed the same, and when he gave them a counter offer, they scoffed at the idea, calling it an insult.

"Well, thank you sirs for your time. It seems that we will not be able to do business with you, Good day to you all, and he got up to leave.

"Wait, you never asked us about our third property?"

"No sir, I didn't." and he once again turned and was ready to leave.

"Can we hear your reasoning?"

"It's too close to the bank. You would never allow us to test out merchandise."

"Surely it can't be that bad? Why would we be so against it?"

"Large crowds of people. Fireworks. Other loud noises. It's too much to ask you to sell to something that could cause such a commotion."

"Large crowds of people?"

"OH yes. Why we had over three thousand at our grand opening in Hogsmeade. Imagine what it would be like in Diagon Alley. Maybe even three times the amount. You would never allow such a crowd to gather in front of your bank."

"Why would that bother us?"

"It would scare your customers off. Of course, the people outside maybe some of your customers, so that wouldn't be so bad, now would it?"

The Goblin began to run figures around in his mind. Nine thousand people in front of the bank. If half of them held vaults in the bank, four thousand five hundred visitors. A normal day had four hundred visitors. Perhaps something could still get done that would benefit both parties. "Please give me a chance to talk to my superiors. I will be right back."

He came back with an offer that was twenty five hundred galleons cheaper that the first price. The building was bought, and James and Sirius asked Remus to run this store with him hiring all the help he needed.


	11. Chapter 11

Merlin Chapter Eleven

Peter had finished moving all the items Lord Voldemort asked him to and was now returning to find out what his next task would be. With Hogwarts now in summer vacation, perhaps he would be going to find out what Dumbledore was planning for the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe find out what happened to Severus since he didn't join with the Death Eaters. Possibly even see if Sirius and James finally joined the Auror Division.

If there was anything he missed about school, it was the friendship he shared with the Marauders, but when this Merl came along and he showed them what he was planning, it changed everything. Yes, he was going to spy on them when he was finished with school because both the Potters and the Blacks were pure blood families that went against what Lord Voldemort stood for. Peter's family was like the Weasleys, pure bloods, but very poor. Unlike the Weasleys and his family, he wanted to be somebody, and being a Marauder member wasn't going to get him any notice. It meant hurting those who took him in when he first went to school, but that was the hazard of war. Friends turn against friends.

Being poor did not give him elite status in the Death Eaters, but his spying possibilities as a rat could get him there. He felt this was his best chance of improving his life. Where he could show how useful he could be and how much he could be relied upon. He didn't feel he could do this if he remained with the Marauders as he didn't see where they could be anything after school was over with. All they were good for was pranks and girl chasing.

He could feel it in his bones, that something was going to be happening soon. He didn't know what is was going to be, but it was going to change the way people went about their lives. He even felt what he had just finished for Lord Voldemort was one of the key parts. These items were of huge sentiment to him and Peter felt honored to be able to help out.

Merlin-}

James and Sirius purchased both Zonko's and the building in Diagon Alley for a fair price, but Zonko's was ready for use immediately, where Diagon Alley would take all summer. Remus would have Merl there helping him while James and Sirius worked Hogsmeade. With Merl's help, the task took much shorter time than anticipated. By August 1st it was ready to open, and the students for the upcoming year had something to look forward to. Remus had taken Lily's advice and had more than just pranks and jokes in his shop. He had items for women and men from the continent. Places like France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Germany who each had their specialties had items on display in their shelves.

When Remus ordered these items, he was looking for something special to give as wedding gifts to the three couples planning on getting married at the same time. He found it with some fine Austrian Crystal glasses and candle holders. Gold trimmed and diamond cut.

Alice and Frank had already been married and Frank had become an Auror, and Alice worked for Alastor in the MLE. This is when she learned of the change in leadership ot the Order, but was held to keep it to herself until the Order was reconviened. Even Frank couldn't know.

Sirius, James and Severus would all marry their intended on Oct. 31st. Severus didn't know his would become so necessary due to Narcissa being pregnant. She would be due in May. She would be three months pregnant when the marriage took place. It would be Severus' best wedding gift. It would also make Alice and Lily jealous and get Marlene thinking.

While Merl had been helping Remus with the shop, he was also thinking of a way to get into the bank and take the cup hidden in the LaStrange vault. He knew as Merlin he held great respect with the Goblins, but was it enough to let him into the vault and get it? Even if it was a stolen piece of history, he had no right in the someone elses vault. He wouldn't blame the Goblins for refusing him entry. But he did have to try.

Finally after finishing early before the store opened, he went to the bank and asked to speak to the Director. When asked who was calling, he just told him an old friend. He entered the bank as Merlin so that no questions would be asked about two different people wishing to see the Director. The attendent returned and showed him in and closed the door behind him.

Ragnok didn't know who to expect when he was told of an old friend, but Merlin was not even on this short list. "Myrrdyn Emmrys, is that you? I didn't know you had returned to our rhealm."

"Yes my friend, Ragnok, It is really me. I'm sorry for not visiting sooner, but there were things that needed to get done before my visit. It has been many cycles since we last spoke."

"Still talking in riddles I see. I never have figured out what a cycle was. Please don't try and explain it to me, as the last time it gave me a headache. Now please sit and tell me what you have been up to that kept you away."

Merlin didn't know how much to tell him, but after a moment, he decided to go for it all. It took an hour to get him to believe it. "So, you are not the Merlin I knew in the past. Why do you favor him so much?"

"We knew of his appearance before I came here, and decided to use it for my cover. I needed the help of the people I mentioned in order to accomplish my assignment. It is still not complete, and that is why I am here."

"You need something from the Goblins?"

"No Ragnok, not from you. Well, actually yes I do, but it is not material. It is something far more valuable. I need in someone elses vault."

"You knew the answer to that before you asked, yet you still asked it. It must be very important to you. Could you tell me what it is you seek?"

"If I do, you must promise to never divulge what it is I seek, whether you grant me access or not. It means death to me, you and any other who gets in the way. It was stolen by Lord Voldemort, and he used it to create something so evil, no one dares talk about it."

Ragnok was better versed in magic that Merlin expected, "So he made it a Horcrux. Why does someone take something so special and turn it evil. However, as you know, we cannot allow you access. What we can do is contact the LaStrange brothers and tell them maintenance needs to be done on their vault and we will have to enter it to complete it. Once in, if we see this cup in the vault, we will confiscate it. A founders artifact belongs to all people, even if it is corrupted. Of course we may have to find something to replace it, unless you already have something."

Merlin smiled at Ragnok, "I just might have something for you to replace it with. I'll go get it while you contact the LaStranges. I shouldn't be too long." He left the bank and Apporated to Hogsmeade where James and Sirius were helping some customers. Merl looked around and found something that might work. The title of it was printed on a piece of paper under the item on the shelf. It was called a dribble cup. He took his wand and created the Hufflepuff coat of arms on it. He brought it to the counter and Sirius looked at. "I don't remember anything like this on the shelf? James, do we make these cups? And if we do, how much are they?"

James looked over and said "Nope, never saw anything like it before. Where did you get it Merl?"

When Merl showed them the spot, Sirius laughed, "Who are you trying to impress by showing them Hufflepuffs Cup?"

Merl's answer almost made Sirius vomit, "It's for your cousin Bellatrix. Do you think she'll like it?"

"Are you sick, man? Why on earth would you try to impress that stuck up bitch?"

"You told me to find someone to love."

"Merl, she's my cousin and even I can't stand her. If you ask Narcissa you may get the same answer from her. She's poison to anyone normal."

"Don't worry Pads, I'm not going to give it to her personally."

"Then how are you going to give it to her?"

"She won't even know I gave it to her, if I'm lucky."

"Then how the hell do you expect to get anywhere with her if she doesn't know you gave it to her?"

"I don't."

"I don't get it?"

"And I hope neither does she. By Pads, by Prongs." and he left a befuddled Sirius standing there where he left him.

"Did you understand any of that Prongs?"

"Nope, but it's not the first time Merl left me scratching my head."

"He's weird."

"Tell me about it. But, there is no one else I would like at my side when I'm in a fight. Sorry pal, but you have to admit he is scary."

"I guess, but this is strange, even for him. He wants to impress my cousin, but doesn't wish her to know it."

"Maybe he's just shy around women."

"Come on James, look how he is around our girls. If he wanted to, he could have any of them."

"Nope, I don't think so. Lily already told me she loved him, but as a friend. Marlene hardly knows him, and Narcissa is like Lily. He acts like he isn't interested in them for a meaningful relationship. I, for one, am glad about that."

"I hope you're right. I would hate to have to fight him for Marlene."

Merlin-}

Merlin got back to Gringotts and approached the attendent, again asking for the Director. He was brought back to the door, but this time was let right in. Merlin entered and saw Ragnok sitting behind his desk with Hufflepuffs Cup sitting in front of him. He also saw where he had burn marks on his hands.

"You were correct in your assumption, Myrrdyn. The cup is a host for a Horcrux. It fought me the entire trip back to my office. I see you have a replacement for me. I welcome this exchange just to get rid of this horrid thing. Do you have the equipment to destroy it?"

"Between Albus and I we do. We have done it before."

"You mean to tell me there were more than one?"

"This is the fourth, and I still don't think we are done. We think he may have three more, as seven is the most magical number. It would leave him weak, morally, but I don't think he cares anything of morals."

"Why would he try such a desperate ordeal? Doesn't he realize what it is doing to him? Two would be the most anyone should attempt at making. More than that risks mental stability or complete insanity."

"If you ask me, he has already reached that point. He is killing innocent people just to show people he can do it. The McKinnons being a case in point."

"Yes, I heard about them. A shame really. I heard that the oldest daughter was saved though."

"She was, by me. She has agreed to marry Sirius Black on the same date as James Potter and Lily Evans, Severus Snape and Narcissa Black, Frank Longbottom and Alice Prewitt. It's going to be something else. I am looking forward to it."

Merlin happened to look at the paper on Ragnok's desk and saw something he didn't like to see. It was a copy of the new paper that Xenophilius Lovegood started up and it's headline read that many in the Ministry were siding with Death Eaters. Merlin knew that he had just made himself a target of Lord Voldemort. "Excuse me Ragnok, there is something I need to try and stop."

Ragnok looked at the paper and knew what it was he needed to do. He wished him luck as the door closed. He hoped he was there in time.

Merlin-}

When he got to the home of Lovegood, he saw he was too late. It was a total loss and somehow he knew what he would find inside the rubble. He went in anyway and his worst fear was true. The broken and bleeding body of Xenophilius Lovegood lay in a pool of his own blood. He searched further hoping he would not find another body in the rubble. His search came up negative and he released his breath once he was finished. Selena must be at work. He then apporated to the Ministry to find her and tell her as gently as he could of his findings. He would also report the incident to the Auror Division so that they could follow up on it.

Selena worked with the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries. When she was told she had a visitor, she stopped what she was working on and walked to the front of Department. She was surprised to see Merl there. "What are you doing here Merl? Does Lily and Alice need me for something?"

"Is there a place where we could talk in private? What I have to tell you is something you won't want to have many people around you."

Selena began to worry about this. Something must have happened to Lily or James. She led him to a small breakroom and they both took a seat. "Selena, I have to tell you something, and it is going to hurt you a great deal. I just left the Lovegood home, or what was left of it. Inside the rubble I found Xenophilius dead. Death Eaters attacked and killed him and then destroyed the home. He had been writing some very damaging stories about the Death Eaters and this was how they struck back."

Selena sat there in disbelief. She knew he was thinking of writing these stories, but not until he had more proof. What could he have found that made him write the story. She felt the tears streaming down her cheeks and wiped them away with her hand. She was trembling as if she were cold and she was becoming light headed. This was when she passed out. Merl saw it coming and was there to catch her as she fell over. He called out for help, and he was soon joined by other workers. She was taken to St. Mungo's and Merl Floo'd Lily to let her know what happened and where she was taken. He left for the hospital and found Lily and Remus already there talking to the receptionist. She told Lily what room she was taken to and the three of them followed the directions and found the room and knocked for entry.

When they were allowed to enter, they saw Selena laying on the bed, crying her heart out. She saw Lily and Remus and called for Lily to come hold her. Remus and Merl stood at the foot of her bed, looking down on the scene. Remus had tears in his eyes as well.

Merlin-}

It had been a week since the death of Xeno, and Selena still mourned for him. She was eating very little and she hardly ever left her bed. Lily tried to get her to move in with her and James, but she didn't think she was ready for company, except for her. Even when Remus was with her, she said very little to him.

Remus and Merl had opened the prank shop and found some very good people to work for them. It was them that watched the store while he tried to help Selena and Lily get through this.

The others had also visited, but Selena was only receptive to Lily. This was fine with them all, as they knew how close the two of them were, but her rejection of Remus baffled them. Merl tried to explain to them that she was still hurt by Remus' breaking up with her, and it would take some time for her to accept him again as a friend.

Life went on for the rest. Severus was informed of a vacancy that would come up at the end of the upcoming school year when Professor Slughorn decided he would retire from the Potions class at Hogwarts. He had finished his Master work over the Summer Hols and was looking for a position to fill. He sent a letter of his status to the Headmaster and hoped to hear from him soon. He would work for the Apothecary in Diagon Alley until then. It was a small job that paid little, but it told him what was needed to the people who frequented the shop, other than students.

Frank had taken a position with the Auror Division of the Ministry and Alice with the Magical Law Enforcement Division. They even worked some assignments together, when it called for a deeper investigation. Aurors were only allowed to spend so much time on a case before it was turned over to the MLE.

Narcissa worked with James and Sirius in Hogsmeade, mostly to pass the time. She needed very little in terms of money because what she received in inheritence funds. Her, Bellatrix and Andromeda each received a third of the family money and Narcissa left hers in the bank, to draw interest. Severus never asked her for anything, even though she would have gladly given it to him.

This is how the four couples spent their time until it was time for their weddings. It had already been discussed with Remus and Selena to be Best Man to the four grooms and Selena the Maid of Honor for the four brides. Lily had asked Selena if she wished to give up her place in the wedding, and she refused stating, "I need something good to help me get through this, Lily. It has been three months now, and I still miss Xeno very much. I need to move on with my life and find the right man to help me. I wish Remus was that man, but I'm afraid the same thing will happen if I even approach him on it."

Lily knew what she was talking about, but didn't remark on it. Remus would love to get her back and this time for good. He knew she didn't want the same thing to happen, but how could he convince her that it wouldn't. He wasn't even sure himself. He loved her and wanted to be with her more than anyone could imagine.

Merlin-}

Halloween morning saw the four soon to be husbands sitting at the kitchen table sipping tea and recovering from the bachelor party two nights past. Of course James and Sirius took this as their last chance to be complete idiots before settling down. It was so bad that neither of them remembered what happened past 9PM that evening. Remus was the one to remind them of the events that took place and they patted each other on the back for their accomplishments.

Now they were ready to settle down and become the model citizens they promised they would become. Frank had to take a leave of absence from the training to become an Auror. The one month he took off meant he had to add two months to his training. Only for Alice would he have done this.

Merl and Albus left their search for the remaining Horcruxes to join in on the festive occasion. However, after his discussion with Ragnok, Merl wasn't sure that there were more than one left to find. Voldemort may have finished what he has right now, and possibly create more later on. He figured seven would be the most he could make without hurting himself both mentally and physically.

If what they had done to him with the destruction of the four made him weak, then maybe he was too weak to create anymore. This is what he hoped for anyway. He never mentioned this to Albus because it was just that, something he hoped for.

The time for the marraiges to take was now upon them, and the four grooms stood on the platform awaiting their brides to join them. Of the four, the only one nervous was Sirius. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind. James and Remus tried to calm him down, but it was impossible as he kept telling them, "Why am I doing this? There is no way Marlene is going to go through with it. She is probably up there packing her bags, ready to leave when the procession starts. I'm a fool to think she would actually go through with this."

Finally Remus had heard enough, "OK, then beat her to the punch and leave now. I'll take your place and marry Marlene."

Sirius stopped whining long enough to glare at Remus. "You would, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. I'm no fool. She may object to it at first, but after thinking it over for a bit, she would change her mind and go through with it. This would be to just to end her embarrassment of being jilted at the alter. She may even learn to love me after a few days."

Sirius didn't say anymore after this and he tried his best to remain steady.

Then the music started and people began to leave the room where the procession stayed. It took a few minutes, but finally the brides were making their way out. Alice was the first one out, follwed by Lily, then Marlene, and finally Narcissa. Each groom left the platform to go meet his intended bride. When Sirius started down, he had to push Remus back to his place, cussing him under his breath. He heard Remus laugh, and silently laughed with him.

The weddings took about an hour to for all of them to happen and then they took their place on the reception line. Finally after all the circumstance was finished, the reception itself was started, and the four couples danced their first dance together as husband and wife. By the time the evening was over with, each husband would have danced with each wife at least one time. Remus shared a dance with each wife and Selena shared one with each husband, but for the most part, she danced with Remus.

Remus cherished the time he shared with the lovely Selena, and decided it was time to ask her if she had it in her heart to give him a second chance. He told her of a potion that Severus brewed that controlled his anger while changed. She agreed tomgive him a chance, but if he hesitated one time, it was through.

Merl had his share of dances as well, and saw that Albus did as well. He saw at least five different times he danced with Minerva. Merl also saw a couple he was not expecting to see. Arthur and Molly Weasley were there and danced most of the dances. However they left early for some reason, but he saw Molly go to Lily to thank her for the invitation. They hugged and spoke a few more words that Merl couldn't make out before her and Arthur left.

The reception went on well past midnight, but all the married couples were gone by 11 PM. It was the last anyone saw of them for three weeks.

Merlin-}

By the time they were all back, Narcissa was not alone in her condition. All four of the brides were with child. The four didn't know it at the time, but they would all share the information in another two months, with their grooms. 1980 looked to be a banner year for the four pairs of couples.

Marlene, Lily and Narcissa decided to open a tea shop in Diagon Alley and in Hogsmead to keep an eye on their mates and to keep themselves busy. Selena asked if she join them, and like James, Lily said she would share ownership with her for the one in Diagon Alley. Marlene and Narcissa would run the one in Hogsmead. The one in Diagon Alley would be called "The Tea Cozy" and Hogsmeade would be called "Marauders Rest Stop"

Alice continued to work for the MLE, and Frank as an Auror. They had taken a chance by continuing their careers in these spots, but they both loved what they did.

Selena and Lily were the lucky ones for their shops, as they took over for a retiring owner of a same type business. A few modifications was all that was necessary and they soon opened up. Marlene and Narcissa took longer for theirs, as they had to do a complete renovation. It wouldn't open until after the Christmas Hols.

Severus received a letter from Albus, stating that his letter of intent had been received and that once the hiring process was begun, he would be notified. So, Remus, Selena, Lily and Severus all worked in Diagon Alley at the time, and they spent a lot of time together. It was during this time that Remus and Selena became closer. So close in fact, Remus decided to ask Selena to marry him. He was tired of being alone. Selena had waited for Xeno, and look at what happened. She decided to say yes, because she didn't want to be alone anymore, after seeing all her friends get married.

Once again, it was Merl that was missing. Merl and Albus had searched everywhere they cpould think of, but could not find the next Horcrux. Because it was like this, Merl felt even stronger that the next one would be the last.


End file.
